RWBY: Team Regalia
by Owen Farron
Summary: What do you do when you wake up in a forest with no idea how you got there? Why try to survive of course! Join Raishun, a newcomer to the strange world of Remnant as he tries to survive in the hostile world. Along the way, he'll forge friendships and go on adventures that reveal ties to the world he didn't know he had.
1. Chapter 0: Life Born Anew

(RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth, I don't own anything except for the OC's. Please support the official release.)

Raishun slowly opened the door to his home, shrugging his bag off of his shoulders. "Oof, talk about a long day" he muttered, kicking off his shoes as he closed the door behind him and began walking to his kitchen. He stopped outside the kitchen, looking at a picture of his family. He slowly ran his fingertips across the smooth glass, "It's been six months already huh." he sighed, moving to run a hand through his unkempt blue hair, only to hit himself in the face with his bracelet.

He flinched in pain and gave his bracelet a hateful look. It was red and silver in color, with a black line running through the center. Three holes formed the shape of a triangle in what he assumed was the top of the bracelet, which was a gift from his father after he had gotten into a fight and blacked out. He never got a chance to ask him why he had given him the bracelet.

Deciding that he didn't want to dwell on the past, he moved to continue his journey but stopped when he felt a splitting pain in his head. Stumbling, he fell to the ground clutching his head in discomfort.

"Sleep," A coarse voice in his head commanded.

"Who the hell are you!?" he looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, his eyelids beginning to feel heavy. "What do you want with me…" he trailed off, as his closed. The last thing he heard was heavy footsteps coming up behind him, and then the world went dark.  
-

Raishun slowly opened his eyes, a bright light blinding him as he sat up. Standing up, he was shocked to see that instead of being in his house, he was instead surrounded by a lush forest.

"Where the hell am I?" He whispered, his golden eyes scanning the forest for any people that may be with him, but all he found was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves overhead. "Guess I'm alone."

"Hands up." A feminine voice behind him ordered, "Turn around slowly, any sudden moves and you'll have another hole in your head to breathe out of."

"Nevermind then," he raised his hands in surrender and turned slowly, following the voice's orders. When he had turned all the way around, he was surprised to be met by a girl wearing a sleeveless single piece green and black dress pointing a rifle at his head. Her blues eyes were narrowed, as her pink hair swung idly in a messy ponytail. "Well, that escalated quickly."

"Shut up," the girl pushed the cool metal of the barrel into his forehead. "Now who are you?"

"I'm Raishun Alenko," he slowly lowered one of his hands, and slowly extended it in greeting. "Nice to meet you,"

The girl began to slowly circle him, looking him over for any weapons he may have hidden. After circling him twice and not finding anything, she decided he wasn't a threat. She slung her gun over her shoulder and shook his hand. "I'm Alisa Speeddraw."

Raishun nodded and took a step back, giving her a skeptical look. "So do you greet everyone like that, or…"

"O-oh no, sorry about that," Alisa played with the bottom of her dress nervously, "We've just had reports of the White Fang causing trouble in the forest recently, so when I saw you looking around like you were lost I thought you were one of them." She looked at his hair "Though now that I take a closer look, you don't look like a Faunus."

"It's fine," he replied, deciding to ignore his own questions as to what a Faunus was. "This is going to sound stupid, but where are we exactly?"

She seemed surprised by his question and gave him an odd look. "We're at Beacon Academy." Upon seeing that he was still confused she decided to elaborate. "You know, where hunters and huntresses go to train?"

An idea suddenly popped into his head at her last comment. Schools were a place of learning, so there was a chance that he could find out more about where in the world he was. "Uhhh, yeah I knew that!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "I just got lost, would you mind showing me the way back?"

She nodded, with a bright smile on her face. "Of course!" she chirped and began to walk into the forest, with Raishun trailing close behind her. "So are you here for the entrance exams too?"

"Yeah, though it shouldn't be too much of a challenge for me." He said with a cocky grin on his face, though on the inside he was trying to think of a way to bluff through the exam.

"Oh, so you're the competitive type huh," Alisa smiled, looking at him over her shoulder. "I hope your weapon and semblance are ready! And speaking of which, what's your semblance?"

"I'm sorry my what?" He asked with a confused look on his face.

Alisa stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him, her face filled with worry. "You sure you didn't hit your head back there? But since you asked, a semblance is an ability that you're born with." She stuck out her hand with her palm facing upwards. "Like this," Her eyes narrowed on her palm, and blue particles began to move from the trees and ground into her hand. Slowly but surely, the particles began to cluster in the shape of an oval, until a bullet was sitting in her palm"  
"Woah, that's awesome!" He cheered, staring in amazement at the bullet in her hand.

"Yup," Alisa beamed with pride, handing him the bullet, "Here you can keep it."

"Thanks!" He moved to place it in his pocket and stopped, his outfit had changed. Before he had fallen asleep, he had been wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans. But now he was decked out in a red hoodie and black cargo pants, with a green poncho sitting on his shoulders.

"So what's your semblance?" Alisa asked, snapping him out of his trance.

"Oh mine, it's um-" he stopped as he saw the edge of the forest behind her. He placed the bullet in his pocket and pointed behind her. "Hey, I think we're here!"

Together, the two walked the small distance and arrived on campus. Large buildings dotted the campus, with a large tower in the center of the campus. The sound of students buzzing about filled the air, as airships dropped students off.

"Woah," Raishun whispered under his breath "I'm not in Kansas anymore"

Alisa looked at the dumbfounded look on Raishun's face and giggled. "Well this is where we part ways" She tapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see you at the entrance exams tomorrow!" she said before running off into the campus, and into the crowd.

Not knowing where to go and with daylight fading, Raishun decided to follow the crowd into a large ballroom. One look at the inside told him that this was where they would be sleeping. He looked around for a bit and eventually decided that an empty space on the wall would do for the night. He sat down with his back against the wall and heard his stomach rumble. "Damn, I haven't eaten since yesterday." As if his prayers had been answered, a small loaf of bread fell into his lap. He looked up and saw a short girl wearing a buttoned-up white trench coat with black straight pants. She had smooth white hair that went down to her back and her purple eyes stared down at him.

"Well, what are you waiting for, an invitation? Dig in!" She huffed.

"Oh right, thank you!" He smiled and began to devour the bread. It tasted bland and was a little hard, but it filled him up all the same. He stopped eating for a second and looked back up at the girl. "I'm Raishun, what's your name?"

"I'm Laura Izuna," She said in a dignified manner. "And don't mention it, I just felt bad for you is all." She looked him over. "Where's all your stuff?"

"My stuff?" He looked at the other students and saw that they all had bags with them, filled with their belongings. "I only came here with the clothes on my back," he answered truthfully.

"Is that so…" she took a quick look around her and saw that people were beginning to turn in for the night. "Looks like people are going to go to bed."

"Yeah, looks like it." He replied, scarfing down the rest of the bread. "I'm guessing we should probably get some rest too."

She nodded, "It was nice meeting you Raishun, good luck in the entrance exams" And with that she turned and walked over to the other side of the gym, where all the girls seemed to be sleeping.

"You too!" he yelled back, earning him more than a few dirty looks from the students around him. Opting to ignore them, he laid down on the cold floor, pulling his hood over his head. "Entrance exams huh, I'll probably fail those," he sighed, drifting off to sleep with his thoughts focused on what was to come.

"Hey, hey wake up!"

Raishun slowly opened his eyes and saw Alisa looking down at him. "G'morning Alisa," he slurred, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "What do you want?"

"It's almost time for the entrance exam, hurry up or you're gonna miss it!" Alisa said urgently.

"Oh shit, your right!" He was fully awake now and jumped to his feet, quickly running a hand through his hair to make it look semi-presentable. "Lead the way!"

Nodding, she began to run through the halls and out the building, eventually, the two arrived at a cliffside overlooking the forest he had woken up in. Students were lined up, each one of them standing on a circular pad. They both quickly jumped onto a pad and began to listen to their instructions, seemingly arriving at the end of the long speech.

"Your goal is to find the artifact with your partner, and return it to the extraction point on your scrolls." Said a white-haired man. He was dressed in a green suit and used a cane to walk along the line of students while he sipped from his mug. "I wish you all the best of luck, and I sincerely hope you have a landing strategy."

Landing strategy? Raishun wondered, as a student from the far right side of the cliff was launched off their pad and was sent flying into the forest. He nervously looked at the person beside him, a tall student with wavy brown hair and eyes the color of chocolate. He was clad in a purple and brown jacket, with white fur at the neck and wrists. "I don't think he had a parachute," He said nervously.

"He didn't need one," The student said, "He'll stick the landing… probably." He turned to face Raishun, "What's the matter, you scared?"

"Of course not," Raishun huffed. "I bet your the one who's worried."

The student chuckled and shook his head "I'll see you in the forest if you don't die from the fall of course" He turned to face the forest and was launched into the air.

Raishun gulped, it would be his turn next and without a parachute, he was pretty sure the fall would kill him. He took a step backward to try and get off but heard a small click underneath his feet. "What did I do to deserve this," He cried, as he was launched into the forest below.


	2. Chapter 1: Pathfinders

This is not good!" Raishun yelled as he flew through the air. The forest below becoming an emerald blur as the wind howled in his ears, "How the hell am I going to land without dying!" He quickly looked around for something to break his fall but he was moving too fast to do anything. He yelled, shutting his eyes as the forest began to grow closer until he hit the upper branches of the trees. Stinging pain filled his body as the branches broke under him until he hit the ground. Slowly opening his eyes, he quickly checked his body for any broken bones or missing limbs. "Oh thank god!" he sighed in relief after making sure that he was okay.

He jumped to his feet, spinning in a circle slowly while he decided which direction to go in. "Damn that four eyes!" he cursed under his breath, deciding to head in a random direction and hope that he ran into someone. He hadn't even taken his first step when he heard a branch snap to his left. Without thinking, he climbed up a tree and watched from above.

A large black wolf, bigger than any he had ever seen before came out of the bushes and started sniffing around. Raishun held his breath, trying to stay calm as the beast paced through the area. He felt like an eternity passed before it seemed to lose interest and left. He let out a slow and shaky breath, if he wanted to survive in this forest he would need to find a weapon to defend himself with. He jumped down to the earth, only to have the ground give out underneath him.

He yelped as he crashed to the ground and slammed his head. HIs vision went fuzzy and he clutched his head in pain. When his vision returned to normal, he noticed a small hole in the wall in front of him, barely big enough for him to squeeze through. He carefully crawled through, and entered a large empty chamber, except for a rusty blade stuck in a rock, a faint light emanating from the blade.

He approached the blade cautiously, making sure to check for any traps that might take his head off. When he was less than a foot away, his bracelet began to heat up. "What do we have here?" he whispered, inspecting the blade carefully.

The blade had a faded red hilt, with small unrusted pieces of the black iron blade glowing a faint yellow. The rusted guard was angled toward the wielder's hand to protect it, but by far the most peculiar thing about it was the yellow gem that resided in the center of the guard. It made him strangely uneasy, almost as if it was watching him.

He gripped the sword with his right hand, his bracelet growing hotter around his wrist. With a small pull, the sword pulled free of the stone. "Huh, that was easy. Take that King Arthur you lo-" He stopped, as black tendrils exploded from the gem and dug into his bracelet, making it grow unbearably hot. He cried out in agony as he fell to his knees, writhing in pain as he clutched his arm. It felt as if he was being stabbed in the arm with a fiery blade over and over again.

Slowly, the pain began to dull and eventually was gone altogether. His stood up on shaky legs, his breathing ragged and sweat coating his brow. With a cautious hand, he slowly lifted the blade up to eye level and gave it a test swing. It felt like it weighed almost nothing, slicing through the air with no resistance. To his surprise, after he swung the tendrils began to recede back into the blade. "What a creepy sword…" He shuddered, checking his arm for damage and letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that he was alright.

After about a minute of rest, he decided to check his surroundings for a way out of the mess he was in and was happy to see a small hole that seemed to lead out. On his way out, he saw a well-worn sheath that fit his blade well. "At least things are turning around," he muttered. Sheathing his sword and attaching it to his hip, he began to crawl through the tight hole in the wall.

He crawled through the hole for what seemed like hours when suddenly light began to blind him. He crawled faster and emerged from the cave into a large clearing in the forest. Ruined structures formed a semicircle at the far end of the clearing, with an expensive looking chessboard sitting in the middle of the semicircle. Cautiously, he made his way up to the ruins, his hand resting on the pommel of his blade. The chess board was missing several of its pieces, with the rooks and bishops from both sides missing as well as several pawns. "Guess I'm a bit late." he sighed.

"You can say that again." a voice said from behind him.

He jumped at the sound of the voice, quickly stepping away and turning around. To his surprise, he saw Laura standing there, two swords resting on her hip. She smiled softly, and waved, causing him to chuckle. "Haha, very funny. You got me."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," she replied. Turning her attention to the chessboard, she noticed the missing pieces. "I'm guessing those are the relics."

"Yeah." He turned to face the chessboard, with Laura moving up next to him. "Which do you think we should grab?"

"Well since we're now officially partners, I figured I'd let you pick."

"Partners?" He looked at the girl with a confused look on his face. "Since when?"

"Since right now, did you not hear a word Ozpin said to us?"

He shook his head no, causing the silver-haired beauty to sigh in disappointment. "I'll explain later since it's obvious you were late, but for now I think we should take the black king." she picked up the piece, holding it up to him. "Agreed?"

"Yeah, sounds perfect." he took the piece and pocketed it next to Alisa's bullet. "What now?"

"We move to the extraction point on this of course," Laura stated matter of factly, and pulled out a small metallic object shaped like a phone, only it was paper thin. "Now if I'm not wrong, we should be going in thi-" She stopped suddenly, quickly putting away the object and unsheathing her swords. Pointing them both to their left. "We've got company."

Raishun unsheathed his sword pointing at the forest. He grimaced at the poor state of the blade, his brow creased with worry that the blade could snap due to all the rust on it.

A sharp pain ran through his head, and he reached up to clutch it with one hand. "What the hell's wrong with me…" he muttered.

"Oh? Fate really does work in mysterious ways… You'll do for now." a voice rang out inside of his head, he couldn't tell if it was feminine or masculine, and he didn't get a chance to find out.

"Hey, focus! They're almost on top of us!" Laura commanded from his side.

"R-right!" he returned his attention to the forest, staring intently for any signs of movement. A bush in front of him began to rustle, and he tensed up nervously. Slowly, two figures moved out from the bushes. Only the figures didn't resemble the wolf he had seen earlier, they were human, and he recognized the two.

One of them, the man, was wearing a purple jacket with fur around the neck area. The other one was Alisa, wearing the same green outfit he had met her in. A shiver ran down his spine as he saw the rifle on her shoulder. He sighed in relief, sheathing his blade and smiling at the two.

"Gil!" Laura smiled, sheathing her blades and running towards the man in purple. She stopped a foot away from him and looked at him beaming. "You made it!"

"Wait you two know each other?" Raishun asked confused.

"Yeah, she's my precious little cousin," Gil replied, patting Laura on the head.

"Ugh, I thought I told you not to do that!" She shrugged him off and moved out of range, puffing out her cheeks in frustration. "I'm not a little kid anymore!"

Gil sniffed, rubbing his eyes on his jacket sleeve. "My little Laura's all grown up." He looked up at her in mock sadness. "They grow up so fast!"

"Uh, I'm still here you know!" Alisa said loudly with a dejected look on her face.

"I'm sorry Alisa, but the conversation was so interesting!" Raishun said apologetically. He pointed a finger over his shoulder at the chessboard. "Anyways, the relics are the chess pieces back there. So go grab one before the rest of them are gone."

Alisa and Gil made their way over to the chessboard and began to talk amongst themselves for a bit. They seemed to reach an agreement, and Alisa grabbed a piece of the board and walked back towards the two with Gil following close behind.

"What'd you choose?" Raishun asked curiously.

"The white king!" She chirped happily, "Since we're gonna destroy the competition!"

"What a coincidence, we chose the black king," Laura stated matter of factly, resting her hands on her hips.

"I hate to break up the small talk, but we're being time on this remember." Gil cut in, "We should get moving, otherwise we'll be disqualified."

They all nodded, and together they began to walk towards their extraction point. Laura led the way, looking at the same phone looking object that Raishun now recognized as a Scroll. As they walked, a loud boom echoed throughout the forest, causing the group to halt in their tracks.

"I hope the other students are okay…" she muttered under her breath in a worried tone, looking behind her.

"I'm sure they're fine," Gil said in a hopeful tone. "Now come on let's keep moving."

They carried on with their trek, coming across a steep cliff. They examined the area for a bit and found a trail that while steep, offered a way up the cliff. The group grinned, and Alisa began running ahead of them up the path. They followed the path for what seemed like an hour when Alisa suddenly stopped in her tracks and crouched down.

Raishun ran up to her with a worried look on his face. "What's wrong, is everything alright?"

"Get down!" Alisa tackled him to the ground, as a giant blade crashed down where they were crouched. She quickly scrambled off of him and turned to face their assailant and was surprised when she didn't see the blade. In its place, was a large cut in the ground, about 2 feet deep and at least as long as Gil was tall.

He shivered, as he thought of what might've happened to him if Alisa didn't save him. "Thanks for the save!" he said thankfully, trying his best not to look shaken.

She reached out a hand and helped him up. "Don't mention it!" she chirped, brushing some dirt off his shoulder. "Can't have you dying on me this early in the school year."

Gil ran up to the two, with Laura not far behind him. Both of them had their weapons drawn, surveying the area for whatever had attacked them. "What the hell was that thing?!" Gil frowned.

"I don't know, but we shouldn't stay to find out," Alisa suggested and began to lead the way towards their extraction point.

The others followed her, only this time they had their weapons unsheathed in case whatever tried to kill them decided to come back. After they had walked for what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at the top of the cliff with smiles on their faces. Gil and Laura sat down in a refined way and breathed a sigh of relief. Raishun and Alisa, on the other hand, flopped onto the ground laughing as they stared up at the sky. They were all hunters now, all they had to do was wait for their ride out.

"Where is everyone?" Raishun said out loud. They'd been at their point for an hour, but no one had arrived to get them. No students had a arrived at the point either, so needless to say they were all growing worried. He had decided to climb up a tree, sitting on an upper branch to get a better view of the land.

"Did we get the extraction point wrong?" Gill asked in a worried tone of voice, the tension getting to him. He walked up to his younger cousin and peeked over her shoulder to check the map on her scroll.

She shrugged him off and the two began to argue about where they should be until Raishun cut in.

"Uhh, guys." He called down from his perch. "Forests don't move right?"

Laura sighed, and gave him a tired look, "Of course not, did you hit your head when Alisa knocked you down?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine." He frowned, "But if forests don't move then how do you explain that!?" He yelled and pointed towards the forest.

Sure enough, several trees were bending or falling down in a straight line moving towards them. The group drew their weapons as whatever was in the forest made its way towards them.

Raishun jumped down from his place atop the tree, drawing the sword he'd found and pointing it at the forest. Loud footsteps could be heard booming from the forest as their foe grew closer and closer. He looked towards his allies for reassurance, and for the first time was able to get a look at Laura's weapons.

The dual blades were silver in color, each one had a singular edge that ended in a sharp point. The hilts were both a solid red color, ending with a yellow pommel. Both were polished to a shine, and the sun reflected off of them. His own blade on the other hand… was a rusted mess.

A large creature burst through the thick foliage, but to their surprise, it was no Grimm. The beast resembled a large T-Rex in shape, but that was where the resemblance ended. It was a deep crimson red color, with deep blue spikes running up and down its body. But the most frightening aspect of the creature wasn't the spikes, but the large blade that protruded from its body where it's tail should've been. It roared, spewing flames into the air, the horns on its head glinting dangerously in the sun.

The group was speechless, fear coursing through their veins at the sight of the creature. No one moved a muscle as the beast stalked closer to them, embers spilling from its mouth as a guttural growling sound emanated from its throat.

Alisa suddenly snapped out of her trance, a determined look crossing her face. She took aim at their foe and quickly fired a shot, hitting it square between the eyes. The bullet didn't pierce the skin but instead exploded into a puff of smoke that blinded it for a bit. She turned to face her teammates, a smile creeping across her face. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's take this thing down!" she cheered, opening fire on the beast.

The other quickly sprang into action, and gave Raishun his first look at how hunters in training fought,

Gil quickly climbed up the beast's leg and onto its back. He began to hack away at the spines, cutting several of them off. It roared in pain and anger as the spines hit the ground, and it began to try and shake him off. He grabbed onto a spike, holding on for dear life. "Laura I could use a hand here!"

"Alright just relax, I'm on my way!" Laura replied, sliding between the creature's legs and slicing at its side. "This thing isn't like any Grimm we've seen before, so stay cautious!" she rolled underneath its tail and tried to drive one of her blades into its tail, only to have it bounce off harmlessly.

The creature tried to hit Laura with its tail, only to be stopped by Alisa shooting another bullet between its eyes, a puff of smoke appearing again to blind it. She opened fire again, but most of her bullets simply bounced off of its scales and armor. But one bullet met its mark and blasted a golf ball sized hole in its left leg.

Growing agitated, the beast turned its attention to Alisa. It ignored Laura and Gil slicing at its back and tail which turned out to be a big mistake. Laura took the opportunity to slice at the hole Alisa had made, making the wound larger than it was before. It started to lean to the side as its leg couldn't support its weight very well.

Gil and Laura sensed the change in its balance and quickly moved away just in time to avoid it crashing down on them. Laura, in particular, landed next to Raishun, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye with a serious look on her face.

"What are you standing there for, give us a hand will you!" She shouted, a hint of anger seeping into her usually calm voice. Before he could respond, she ran off to join the others in attacking the fallen creature, leaving him behind.

He scowled and looked down at the blade he had found with a dissatisfied look on his face. The large gem in the center glinted in the light as if it was aware of his dissatisfaction. He nodded to himself and ran to join the fight with his comrades. He didn't make a very good first impression though since when he tried to slice at the ancient lizards face it almost bit his arm off.

It stood up if it wasn't angry before it certainly was now. Embers flowed freely from its mouth as it let out a loud roar, forcing the young hunters to clamp their hands over their ears. While they were disoriented it moved its tail into its mouth and bit down. Fire began to billow from its mouth, heating its tail up to the point that the blade turned a bright red color.

The action sent shivers up Gil's spine, and his instincts took over. "Everybody get down!" he yelled and threw himself on the ground.

The beast spun in a circle, swinging its tail blade in a wide arc. Everybody but Laura managed to dodge its attack. The blade slammed into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying. She cried out in pain, her white coat charred black as she hit the ground, skidding to a halt around one hundred feet from the battle.

"Laura!" Raishun yelled in panic, running to her aid, hoping that Gil and Alisa would keep the monster off his back. As he ran, his ears started to ring and he staggered for a moment.

"Your semblance is unlocked, give them hell!" The voice in his head ordered.

"I'm going crazy aren't I…" He muttered under his breath worriedly. He slid to a stop next to her, gripping her shoulders and turning her to face him. Her eyes were closed, but her clothes weren't ruined and there was not cut. The whole thing sent a shiver down his spine. "Come on, please don't be dead!" he pleaded

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she slowly opened her eyes to look at him. "I'm alright… I can still keep going." She slowly got to her feet on shaky legs, holding her blades at eye level. She had a determined look on her face, her violet eyes staring at their foe. "We're going to beat this thing, all of us together!" she declared, her words inspiring the team.

He gave her a worried look but shook his head. "Whatever you say leader!" he cheered with a cocky grin on his face. "But be careful okay!" he added.

She nodded, and the two made their way back towards their team. Gil and Alisa had done a great job of keeping its attention. They stopped their attacks and regrouped with Raishun and Laura as they arrived.

"Got a plan?" Raishun asked in a worried tone of voice. He carefully watched their enemy to see if it moved to attack.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Gil answered with a large grin on his face. "Laura will distract it, while Alisa provides us with covering fire." He pointed to himself. "And I'll launch you above it using my scythe so you can deal the final blow!"

"What scythe?" He asked with a concerned look on his face. He was starting to question the sanity of his teammate. "You use a sword and axe for-"

Gil answered his question by pressing a button on his hand axe, causing the hilt to extend to four times its original length. The axe head extended outward slightly, and the two spikes at the back of the head spread wider. He stuck the hilt of his curved sword into the space between the spike where it was held firmly He gave it a flick, and just like that, he was holding a scythe.

"Oh… that scythe." Raishun said with contained excitement. He really wanted to ask about the weapon but held himself back considering the situation they were in.

"As I was saying," Gil said with a smug look on his face, "You're gonna land the final blow."

The gravity of the situation set in and Raishun took a step backward. "Wait what?!" He stammered and tried to argue but was cut off by Laura.

"Let's get this over with, we've been here for hours." Laura cried in frustration. She dashed in between the giant reptiles legs, slicing at its legs and gaining its attention. It kept moving to step on her but she was too fast and evaded every attack with ease.

Alisa quickly dashed away to the corner of the field and opened fire. The shots bouncing off its armor caused her to scowl. She held out a hand and created a bullet, loaded it, and fired. The bullet hit the ground and created a large pit right under it. The beast fell in, dirt caving in around it and burying it up to its chest.

Laura barely had enough time to get out of the way before the beast sunk. She turned and gave the sharpshooter a dirty look, before turning to her cousin. "It's now or never!"

"Get on." Gil lowered his scythe to the ground with a determined look on his face. "We don't have long before that thing breaks free."

He looked at his team, all of them were fighting for their lives. Meanwhile, he hadn't gotten a single hit in yet. A tight knot formed in his stomach as anger and shame began to take over his mind. "Right!" he stood on the inside of the scythe as Gil lifted it, he spun in a circle and launched him up into the air, far above their heads.

The wind whistled through his ears as he soared high above the trees. He looked down and saw the beast struggle to free itself from the pit. He started falling and pointed his blade downwards, planning to stab it in the eye or head. Suddenly it looked upwards as if it knew what they were planning. It opened its mouth, and a ball of flame began to grow, embers charring the grass around the pit.

"Damnit!" He yelled, his anger reaching a boiling point. "I am not dying here!" He felt the familiar pain in his head, His anger only grew, his life had been one close call after another ever since he got here, and it was starting to get on his nerves. "Just die already!" He yelled in anger. All of a sudden, his body felt lighter and stronger. He fell faster, the ground rushing towards him, but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

A loud bang resounded through the field, and its head snapped back much to his surprise. The flame in its mouth quickly died out as it roared in pain. He looked to his left and saw Alisa lower her rifle and give him a thumbs up. With a roar of anger, he hit the beast feet first and drove his blade through its eye, both of them slamming into the ground and becoming obscured in a cloud of dust.

The others watched anxiously, as they waited for the cloud to disperse. As it began to fade, they saw the shadow of Raishun, flicking the blood off of his sword.

"What?" He said with a large grin. "Have some faith in me will ya."

They all smiled in relief, falling to the ground in exhaustion. As they stared at the sky, they saw one of the ships from the academy arrive. With a sigh of relief, they all got on, talking amongst themselves. Except for Raishun, who looked out the window as they were flown back to the school. "What did I get myself into this time?"


	3. Chapter 2: Hunters and Rangers

The students were all returned to the school and gathered in the ballroom. Anxiety and excitement filled the air, as the students waited to hear the results of their entrance exams. Raishun and his team waited at a table patiently for the man in glasses to arrive.

"So who are we waiting for again?" Raishun asked curiously, resting his head on his arm. Their battle had taken a toll on him, and with the adrenaline wearing off he felt dead tired.

"I already told you, we're waiting for the headmaster, Ozpin." Laura scoffed and flicked his forehead. The battle didn't seem to have had any effect on her other than making her a bit irritable.

He recoiled in discomfort and was about to retaliate when Ozpin finally entered. He had his signature mug and cane in hand, taking a sip as he made his way to center stage. He stopped and faced his students, a screen lowering behind him with Beacon's crest on it.

"Thank you all for waiting, we'll now begin assigning those of you who passed to teams." He looked over the crowd. "But first, we need to acknowledge those who sadly did not pass. Would those who grabbed a pawn of either color, please stand up."

About 2 dozen students stood up, looking around nervously at those who were still sitting. A cold sweat ran down Raishun's back, his brow creased in worry that he might've failed.

"I'm sorry to announce that you have failed, I look forward to seeing you all next year should you choose to try again." He said solemnly, offering a sad smile to the standing students.

There were groans of defeat throughout the room and some students stormed out of the room. Raishun and his team breathed a sigh of relief, they were doing good so far.

"Now onto the teams…" He tapped his cane on the floor and the screen came alive, showing the pictures of fours students with the first initial of their first name under their pictures. "Would those who picked up the black bishops please stand!"

They all sat through the videos and teams getting called, with applause being given at the end to the newly crowned team. Raishun dozed off for a bit, trying to recover some of his lost stamina. But a quick jab in the ribs from Gil woke him up, just as Ozpin was about to call up another team.

"Would those who grabbed the White queen pieces, please stand."

Raishun watched with sleepy eyes as a group of four students, two girls and two boys, made their way onto the stage. One of the boys was wearing a blue and brown trench coat, the hood obscuring his face and keeping him from getting a good look. Strangely, he felt connected to the stranger in some way, but he couldn't quite figure out why.

The group arrived at the stage and faced the crowd with stoic expressions. Ozpin gestured to the screen behind him, the letters EMLD appearing on the screen. "The four of you shall from here on and henceforth be known as, Team Emerald." He gestured to the same boy Raishun felt a connection with, "Eric Nightengale will be your leader, I look forward to seeing what you all will accomplish."

Applause thundered throughout the room as the team left the stage. While they made their way back to their seats, Eric turned and looked at Raishun with a scowl on his face. Time seemed to slow down as the two stared at each other but quickly returned to normal as he walked past Raishun.

What the hell was that about? Raishun thought, a chill running down his spine for some reason. He wanted to think about it some more, but his train of thought was cut off by Ozpin speeding things along.

"Would the students who picked the king pieces please stand." He ordered, looking in their general direction.

Raishun gulped, he and his group began to make their way onto the stage and faced the crowd of students. He had a good reason to be nervous too, he had never officially enrolled in this school. Silently, he cursed himself for not thinking this far ahead. His mind began to wander as to what would happen if he was exposed; Would he be executed? Or even arrested, regardless, he was incredibly nervous.

"You four will be known from now on as Team Regalia," Ozpin announced.

Raishun quickly turned and saw pictures of his teammates on the screen. But his picture was blank, a question mark taking the place where his photo should have been. Together, their initials formed RGLA.

"At least there can't be any more surprises…" he sighed, placing a hand on his chest.

"You will be led by Raishun Alenko." Ozpin looked at now hunter in training, "I expect great things from you and your team."

Raishun couldn't respond, the loud applause drowning out his thoughts. He knew deep down that he wasn't in a position to lead, but he decided to roll with what he had been given. He turned and smiled at his team, only to see Laura with a shocked expression on her face.

They returned to their seats in silence, and Ozpin tapped his cane on the ground. "Now onto the main event, let's see what our new students are bringing to the table." The screen behind him stopped showing team names and instead began showing replays of the battles each team had fought. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the screen, an aura of competition taking over the room.

The replays seemed to go on for hours, but nobody seemed to notice since they were so exciting. The most exciting by far was of teams JNPR and RWBY working together to take down a Nevermore and Deathstalker together. The room cheered as the young leader of team RWBY ran up a cliff and cut the head off the Nevermore. Raishun couldn't help but feel a bit jealous, their fight seemed to go smoothly compared to his.

The time eventually came to play team RGLA's fight. The footage was shot from above the battlefield, with the cameras being hidden in trees surrounding the cliff. The video showed Raishun try to attack the beast, only to almost get his arm bitten off and fall on his ass. The respectful silence in the room was quickly replaced by jeers and laughter, the room realizing how incompetent he was.

"I can't believe this is happening…" Raishun muttered under his breath, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment. Please let me die. He thought, wishing for the video to end as soon as possible.

"How did someone like him end up as a leader?"

"I think that white-haired chick should've been the leader, not him."

"How'd he even get accepted into Beacon?"

The voices began to grow louder, countless other students shooting him dirty looks. He shut his eyes, and accepted his fate, wishing he could fade away.

"Don't let them get to you," Laura gently removed his hands from his eyes, forcing him to watch the screen. "Look at what you accomplished and be proud!"

He looked at the screen and saw himself run to Laura's aid. He hadn't noticed before, but on screen, he looked panicked when he checked on her. A cold chill ran down his spine, as he felt the eyes of several guys piercing him. Deciding to ignore them, he continued watching.

The screen showed him flailing as he was thrown up into the air by Gil. The laughter started up again, but this time he ignored it and carried on. The laughter slowly died down, replaced by the respectful silence because of what the screen showed next.

Raishun stared at the screen in awe, as he saw a yellow light radiating from him. It covered his entire body and stretched down to his blade. He hit the beast and they went down, a wave of dust obscuring the screen.

Before the dust could clear away, a bright light appeared through the dust. His eyes widened at what he saw. On his back was a yellow wing, the ends crackling with unfocused energy. The dust cleared and he flicked the blood off his blade, the yellow glow disappearing from his body and weapon. The video ended just as the bullhead arrived, the screen fading to black.

The room went quiet, and everyone looked at him with a deadpan expression. He waved sheepishly, and the room burst into cheering and applause.

"That was a cool semblance!"

"Guess he really does have some potential!"

He laughed nervously. "Thanks, but It wasn't all me out there." He turned to his teammates and smiled. "My friends are the real heroes. I just dealt the final blow."

His team smiled in appreciation, and everyone got ready to head out to their dorms.

"Oh, one last thing. Would please come on stage." Ozpin announced in his usual quiet tone.

A cold sweat ran down his back, and he walked back on to the stage. Doing his best to keep a poker face, he stood next to Ozpin in front of all the newly formed teams.

"First, I'd like to congratulate you on making it into Beacon Academy." Ozpin stuck out his hand with a curt smile.

"Thank you for having me, sir." He replied, shaking Ozpins hand.

"Of course, you have more than earned your place here." A serious look crossed his face, and his tone shifted to match it. "Now… How did you get your hands on the Caligula?"

"Huh?" He gave him a curious look. "What's that?"

"Your blade," he pointed to the sword resting on his hip. "May I see it?'"

"Of course!" The young hunter undid the sheath from his side and moved to hand it to the headmaster.

"If my assumption is correct, I shouldn't touch it." Ozpin took a step backward defensively. "Let me rephrase, could you draw your sword for me?"

Nodding, he drew his sword. To his surprise, the rust and old age from the blade had disappeared. The black metal shone brightly in the light, with the golden hilt contrasting nicely. "I… I don't understand, It was covered in rust and dirt back in the forest."

"It seems that my assumptions were correct." He adjusted his glasses and took a sip from his mug. "Now how did such a weapon get into your hands?"

"Oh, I found it!" Raishun replied cheerfully.

"You… found it…" The older man seemed to deflate a little. He gave the hunter a curious stare. "So you're telling me, that you just happened to find an Imperial Arm in the Emerald Forest. And this grand weapon decided to accept you, a novice hunter, as it's Ranger!?"

He put a finger to his chin, thinking for a bit. "Yeah pretty much. But what's an Imperial Arm? And I thought I was a hunter now, not a Ranger?"

Ozpin sighed in disappointment and adjusted his glasses. "Oh my Oum, he's an idiot." He cleared his throat and turned to face the crowd. "Please excuse the intrusion everyone, but I have one last announcement to make."

The crowd turned to face the two, silence reigning supreme in the room. Raishuns team gave their comrade a worried look.

Ozpin gestured to Raishun. "Please join me in welcoming our newest Ranger, wielder of the Vanguard class Caligula, Raishun Alenko!"

Cheering and applause erupted throughout the room. Raishun turned to his team with a nervous smile on his face, only to see them staring at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us you were a Ranger!?" Laura yelled at Raishun, an angry look on his face.

The newly formed team, along with the other students, were making their way to their new dormitories. The group of four had made it halfway there when Laura had her outburst, leaving Raishun in an uncomfortable position.

"I didn't know! I swear!" He shot back and tried to walk ahead of them to end the conversation.

But Laura wasn't having any of it and matched his pace. "How do you not know that you're a Ranger!?"

"Like I said, I don't know!" He sighed. "I don't even know what any of these things mean. What's a Ranger, and these Imperial Arms?" he turned back to his team with a curious look on his face. "They can't be that important can they?"

The team stopped moving and turned to look at their new leader. They stood there in silence for around a minute. Alisa decided to speak up and clear up the situation.

"You're joking right?" She asked hopefully.

Raishun only shrugged and shook his head no. "Sorry, I don't know a thing."

"Oh boy, here we go." The pink haired girl sighed, twirling her ponytail around her fingers. "An Imperial Arm is a weapon that's been forged using a person's soul. They're incredibly hard to create, with an Imperial Arm being created once every one-thousand tries." She looked him dead in the eye with a serious look on her face. "Because of this, there are only 10 known Imperial Arms in the world."

"Well, that explains what all the fuss was about." He replied, crossing his arms behind his head. "So, why am I being called a Ranger instead of a Hunter."

Gil took the lead, "I'll explain while we walk, we're getting left behind."

The group kept walking, with Alisa and Laura staring at their leader disappointedly.

"A Ranger is someone who's in possession of an Imperial Arm, and has bonded with the soul inside of it," Gil explained. "Imperial Arms are picky too, with there being only one Ranger per Arm."

"But you have to make sure not to use it's power too much, otherwise you can put yourself in danger," Laura said in a worried tone of voice.

"Why's that?" Raishun asked, Laura's worry becoming contagious.

"Because Imperial arms are bound by bloodline. If you kill the last person in that bloodline, then the killer becomes the Imperial Arm's new Ranger." Eric cut in, seemingly appearing out of thin air next to the group.

Raishun jumped and turned to look at the hooded leader. "Where did you come from!?"

"I was just on my way to my dorm with my team. This is it, right here." He pointed to the door on his left. "Let me give you a piece of advice… You need to learn how to fight, otherwise, you won't last long as a Ranger."

"Hey I can fight!" he glared at Eric, "In fact, I can fight better than you ever could!"

"Then prove it tomorrow." He stated, crossing his arms in front of his door. His team waiting impatiently behind him. "Fight me in the training matches, then we'll see which one of us is the best fighter."

"You're on!" He growled, "I'm looking forward to taking you down."

"I'll see you tomorrow then newbie," Eric stated and walked into his room with his team not far behind.

"Somethings off about that guy…" Gil noted, staring at the door with a curious look on his face.

"Well, back on topic." Laura pointed at Raishun with a look of disbelief. "Why would Caligula choose a weak hunter like you!?"

"Hey, hey." Alisa intervened, moving in between the two. "Let's not fight on our first day here, besides Raishun can do…" She paused for a minute. "He can… do stuff!"

"He didn't land a single hit except for the final blow."

"Okay, so maybe he's pretty weak, but he's still a Ranger."

"If you're trying to make me feel better, you're not doing a very good job Alisa," Raishun said, deflating a bit under the verbal abuse. He turned to Gil with a hopeful look. "Gil, you're on my side right?"

Gil decided to ignore the plight of his teammate and walked to the door next to Eric's dorm. "Let's just get into our dorm already. We've all had a long day." He unlocked the door and made his way inside.

The rest of the group followed and were impressed by their new dorm. The room was spacious, with white wall and a window that looked over the courtyard and forest surrounding the school. The floor was made of polished wood, and four beds sat against a wall across from a couch and TV. Their dorm was also equipped with a small kitchen that resided in the right corner of the room. Several suitcases sat in the middle of the room, which Raishun assumed belonged to his teammates.

"Well, I know our first order of business." Laura began rifling through some of the suitcases. "Let's get our stuff unpacked!"

The group proceeded to unpack their stuff, the girls taking the beds closer to the kitchen. Raishun sat down on the bed closest to the window, and idly tapped on a scroll Ozpin had given him after. To his surprise it worked the same as a smartphone, giving him one less thing to worry about.

After around an hour or work, his teammates finished unpacking their things and collapsed onto their respective beds.

"Night guys," Raishun said to his team.

"Good night!" Laura chirped back. "Oh, and if you try anything during the night, let's just say Caligula's going to have a new owner." She threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, you made your point!" He turned on his side, staring through the window until he drifted to sleep.

But he failed to notice a hooded figure, standing on a tree branch at the edge of the forest. He lowered a pair of binoculars he'd been holding.

"So that's where you ended up huh." The figure jumped down from the tree and walked into the forest. "Time to put my plan into action."


	4. Chapter 3: Nightengale

Raishun slowly opened his eyes, the sound of someone moving around causing him to stir awake. He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, quickly snapping awake when he realized his surroundings had changed. He was back in his own house, specifically the living room. Only most of the furniture and pictures on the wall were gone, with a TV in the middle of the room and the couch he was laying on being the only decorations in the room. The brown walls radiated an eerie purple light.

"I'm going insane…" he muttered and moved to stand. Only there was a pressure on his stomach and legs. Looking down, he saw a figure laying under the blanket on top of him. Nervously, he slowly lifted the blanket and saw it was a girl around his age. He cried out in surprise and fell off the couch, backing away.

The girl stirred awake, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, looking around. Her gaze settled on the young Ranger, and the blanket fell away to reveal a one-piece white dress. The chest and neck area of the dress was black, with gold buttons on the neck. Her pale shoulders were mostly covered by her long messy purple hair. Her red eyes seemed to look into his soul and put him on edge.

"I didn't think you'd get here so quickly, you really are full of surprises." She moved to the side of the couch and patted the spot next to par, motioning for him to take a seat. She noticed his hesitation and gave him a soft smile, "Don't worry, I don't bite."

He slowly took a seat next to her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. The action made his face turn a light shade of red. "So two questions." he cleared his throat, regaining his composure as best he could. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?"

She looked up at him and smiled softly, her pale cheeks glowing cheerfully "Well, this isn't your house. It's just a space in your head that I live in." She snapped her fingers, and the walls became transparent, revealing an empty void dotted with thousands of tiny lights where his neighborhood should've been.

He stared at the void in awe, "How did you…" a shiver ran down his spine, and he turned to the girl hanging off his shoulder. "Who are you?"

"Aw come on now, I thought you were smarter than that." she looked into his eyes mischievously. "After all, I've been with you since you started the entrance exam."

"Wait… are you telling me that you're the spirit used to create Caligula?"

"Right on the money." the purple haired spirit chirped. "I knew the Ranger I chose was a good one."

"Haha, thanks for the praise- er." Raishun paused and thought for a minute. "I never caught your name, mind telling me?"

"It's Serah silly!" She turned her full body to face him. "Now, let's seal our contract and get you back to your team."

"Sounds like a plan, but how do we seal it? Is there something I have to sign?" He gave her a curious look.

"Aw, that's easy." She grabbed his wrist with both of her hands, surprising him with how soft her hands were. "Just place your hand on my chest." She instructed.

"Yeah that sounds reasonable- WAIT WHAT!" He quickly pulled his hand back, holding it close to his body. "Aren't we moving a little quickly?"

Serah simply smiled and ignoring his hesitation, grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest. Closing her eyes, she began to recite the contract. "You are my Ranger… And I am your Imperial Arm…" A blinding yellow light began to glow from in between the two, with tiny balls of light floating around the pair. "With you as my heart, and I as your blade… We will stoke the fires of redemption to bring us glory." Her eyes opened and stared into his with a serious edge. "Are you content and capable of fighting with me at your side?"

"Of course!" He replied with determination, staring back into her eyes.

"Then I accept you as my Ranger, from now until death does us part."

Before he could react, she leaned in a kissed him on the lips. The light around him slowly fading as she pulled away, leaving him dumbstruck and speechless.

Serah giggled at the state he was in and placed her finger on his lips. "What, was that not enough for you?"

"N-no, that's not-" he stammered, backing away to the other end of the couch. His face was beet red, and he looked away nervously.

Serah smiled, sat comfortably on her corner, making no moves to approach him. "My, you're a nervous one aren't you." She stated, waving to her Ranger. "Looks like our times up or now, come back and visit soon okay!"

"Wait isn't that kind of sudden?" he grits his teeth in pain, as his head began to hurt again, his vision begging to blur as usual. "If you're a spirit can't you do anything about the pain!?"

She looked at him apologetically and nodded, twirling her hair around her finger idly. "Yeah… Sorry about that, it'll be fixed in the morning so don't worry about it." Her gaze settled on his eyes, and she said something he couldn't hear as darkness overtook him.

Laura slowly opened her eyes, and sat up in her bed, looking around sleepily. "Good morning guys," she yawned reached into her dresser and gathering her new uniform. Her white nightgown went down to her ankles, and she shuffled her way to their new bathroom. On her way, she stopped by her cousin's bed and shook him awake.

"Mrgg… Whaddaya want?" He grumbled, turning to face her with sleepy eyes.

"Get up, we're gonna be late for our first day if we don't get going soon." She scolded, poking her cousins cheek over and over. "Wake up the others, I'm going to get ready." Quickly turning on her heel, she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her before Gil even had a chance to protest.

Gil forced himself to his feet, stretching his arms above his head. "She's as motivated as always…" He mumbled, tidying up his bed. After he had finished, he moved on to his next task which was waking up his team.

First up was Raishun, who was currently talking in his sleep. "Nrrg, no more kisses Sera." he moaned in annoyance, tossing and turning in his bed. He had thrown his blanket off the bed, it was laying on the floor in a crumpled mess alongside his pillows. "Stay awayyyy…"

Gil cringed, and roughly smacked the new leader upside the head, jolting him awake. "Wake up ya dumbass!" he said crudely. "We're gonna be late!"

The young leader quickly rubbed the sleep from his eyes, jumping out of bed and rushing towards the bathroom with his uniform in hand.

"Laura's in there you know," Gil said, pulling out his weapon from under his bed. "I would think twice before I burst in there." Scythe in hand, he began to clean the blade and sharpen the edges. "Why don't you wake up Alisa while I finish up."

He stopped dead in his tracks, skidding to a halt in front of their sniper's bed. "Thanks for the save." he shivered in fear, thinking of what the twin-blade user would do to him if he walked in on her.

Needing to take his mind off his near-death experience, he tiptoed over to the head of Alisa's bed and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey Alisa," he said softly, unsure of how to wake up his teammate, "It's time to get up- OH GOD!" He yelled as he was suddenly pinned to the ground by Alisa.

"I don't know who you are," She growled, straddling his waist with a murderous glint in her unfocused eyes. Her pink hair was a mess, and she pounded the ground next to his head with her fist, "But you've got some nerve to try and take me out here of all-" Stopping, she noticed who her so-called attacker was.

"U-uh… Please don't kill me?" he suggested politely, holding his hands in front of his face in surrender with a hopeful look on his face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Raishun!" She smiled sheepishly at him, her eyes refocusing and losing their murderous intensity. "You see, I'm not much of a morning person." Embarrassed, her face turned a light shade of red, and she covered her face with her hands.

"Yeah… I noticed." He replied curtly, "Now would you mind getting off me, I wouldn't want to cause… a… misunderstanding…" A sudden chill ran up his spine, slowly turning his head, he saw Laura standing at the entrance to the bathroom in her uniform. The black blazer and red pleated skirt combining well with her pale complexion.

"Am I interrupting something?" Laura hissed, looking at the pair with anger in her eyes. "Because it looks like I'm interrupting some form of depraved act."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Raishun babbled, "I can explain!"

"Alright.., let's hear it." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "There better be a good explanation for this mess."

Alisa quickly got off him, "Uhh, I just remembered! I have somewhere I need to be!" She quickly ran into the bathroom with her uniform, eager to escape the situation she'd caused and leaving behind a heartbroken Gil.

"I thought it was my turn next…" He muttered dejectedly, sitting back on his bed to watch the chaos unfold in front of him.

"You see," Raishun explained, climbing to his feet. "I went to go wake up Alisa, but she went crazy and knocked me to the ground, and oh my god, this sounds really bad doesn't it!" Cringing, he waited for her response.

She simply sighed and looked off to the side disappointedly. "Great, I got stuck with a pervert as my partner."

Her remark caused the Ranger to hold his heart and recoil. He moved to defend himself but she simply walked off to join her cousin in waiting for Alisa to finish.

By the time everyone had finished preparing for the day ahead, they were already 20 minutes late. Needless to say, their instructors weren't pleased.

For team RGLA the day was long and boring, with the teachers all having their own quirks that made the class either unbearable or just plain boring. Despite all this, Raishun still took notes in every class, learning about the world he had ended up in. Throughout the classes, he tried to make amends with Laura but was shut down every time. He couldn't help but feel guilty about what had happened in the morning, even though he had done nothing wrong, he'd hurt her in some way. As they entered their final class for the day, he made a mental note to make it up to her later.

The classroom they entered was a large arena, surrounded by rows of bleachers where students that weren't would sit and have a good view of the action. Two screens hung above the arena, this was the class where they would train with each other for combat out in the field.

"Attention everyone." A blonde haired teacher called from the middle of the arena. She had on a buttoned-up black and white dress, with a cape resting on her shoulders. The lower part of the dress was black, with two rows of gold buttons on the stomach area. She pointed the black wand in her hand at the students, an object the resembled a clipboard resting in her free hand. "I am Professor Goodwitch, and I will be your instructor for this class." She paced side to side in the arena, as the students filed into the bleachers. "Here you will train to become hunters capable of stopping an army of Grimm single-handedly. The fights here will be fought one-on-one since you could destroy the arena if you fought as a team."

Raishun took his seat next to his team, his challenge from the previous night popping into his head. Relax, you got this! He thought to himself, as he saw Eric take a seat on the other side of the arena directly across from him.

"Now our first fight today, do we have any volunteers. Not to worry, you won't receive any permanent damage since the fight will end the minute your aura is depleted." Professor Goodwitch looked over the crowd expectantly, waiting for someone to volunteer.

"I volunteer!" Eric declared, rising to his feet. His hood obscured his face, so all the crowd could see was his mouth and nose. "I have a bet I need to settle."

"Thank you, Mr. Nightengale. Who would you like to spar with?" She walked over to the edge of the arena and tapped on the clipboard looking item.

"I want to fight, Raishun Alenko." He pointed at the Ranger confidently. "Do you have any problems with that?"

"None at all." She turned to look up at Raishun. "Do you accept his challenge ?"

"Yeah, let's do this!" He declared, tapped Caligula's gem discreetly. Come on… now would be a good time to give me some advice Serah.

"Take your positions then!" She commanded, the names of the fighters appearing on the screen, followed by bars under each name that measured how much aura each fighter had. Currently, both of them were maxed out, their color green.

Eric jumped down from the balcony and landed gracefully on his feet, walking to the center of the arena. HIs black trench coat had two pauldrons, one on each shoulder, with pointed ends. His hood slid back a bit, exposing his eyes that brimmed with anger. He looked up at Raishun patiently, waiting for his opponent to come down.

"Damn, he means business," Alisa noted, patting her leader on the shoulder supportively. "Good luck, make sure to get in a good hit for us."

"You better not lose to that guy after what you said last night." Gil quipped, giving him a thumbs up. "It would be embarrassing if you did."

Raishun nodded with a big smile on his face, he turned to Laura expecting to receive some form of encouragement but was given the cold shoulder. She was still bothered by the events that had transpired earlier, and she wasn't afraid to show it. Frowning, an idea popped into his head.

"Hey!" he chirped, getting her attention. She looked at him as if he were some annoying bug buzzing overhead. Ignoring her gaze, he tapped his cheek. "No kiss for luck?" he grinned cheekily.

"Just try not to embarrass our team." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

He could've sworn he saw the edge of her lips curve upwards in a small smile but he couldn't be sure. "Roger that! I'll do my best!" he cheered and vaulted over the edge of the balcony, falling 10 feet to the ground below. "Superhero landing!" He yelled and proceeded to fail spectacularly, face planting into the ground as he attempted to do a front flip.

Alisa burst out laughing at her teammates misfortune. "How could he fail that it was so easy!" She held her gut with one hand and slapped Gil's back with the other, who was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Why are we stuck with an idiot as our leader?" Laura sighed, covering her eyes in shame, as the rest of the room laughed.

"I heard that!" Raishun yelled, his face flushed red with embarrassment. He stood and dusting himself off, looking at Eric who covered his mouth suppressing laughter.

"Alright, laugh it up! We'll see if you're still laughing when I wipe the floor with you!"

"Yeah… Hate to break it too you but I don't think that's gonna happen."

They took their places across from each other and unsheathed their weapons. Eric's weapon was a rose gold sickle with intricate marking on the blade. It appeared in a flash of embers, smoldering in its wielders grip. He spun the sickle around in his hand and entered a fighting stance with the tip of the sickle pointed at his opponent.

Raishun tried to mimic his actions but almost hurt himself when his sword glanced off his bracelet, causing him to jump. The crowd laughed again, leaving the Ranger to ignore the jeers from his classmates.

"Ready," Glynda called, raising her hand. "Begin!" she brought her hand down and the two students charged towards each other.

Raishun was the first to strike, he met Eric halfway with his sword art waist level. Intending to impale him through his midsection, he thrust his blade forward only to have Eric sidestep it and slam the pommel of his sickle into his back.

"Is that the best you got?" Eric taunted, looking at the screens above them he could see that with one blow he had taken out a fourth of Raishun's aura. "Man I knew you were weak but I didn't think you were this weak!"

Raishun tried again, this time swinging his blade upwards as he turned to face the arrogant hunter. Again he sidestepped his blade, but this time Raishun spun with his swing, his blade racing towards Eric's waist.

Eric parried the strike with ease and retaliated with his own swing. Only he missed him by a mile, almost jokingly so.

"Dang, you need some glasses Eric?" he sneered, brushing a stray strand of hair from his face.

"Did I?" He responded, earning a confused look from his opponent. "Because the way I see it, you're right where I want you!" He swung his sickle, the outer edge racing towards his foe. It connected with the aura around his neck, causing it to flicker yellow against the rose gold blade.

With a cry of surprise and pain, Raishun jumped backward putting some space in between him and Eric. Looking at the screen from the corner of his eye, he could see that he was running low on aura, with less than a tenth of the bar left. He frowned as it turned a deep crimson color, "Dammit!" he cursed under her breath.

"Don't forget about me now." Eric chastised, slowly walking up to him, tapping his sickle against his leg. When he was about ten feet away, he dashed forward and swung at Raishun's midsection.

Raishun dodged the attack, as well as the stab that followed it. "Is it just me or are you getting slower?" he jeered.

Eric growled and aimed a cut at his neck. "I'll make you choke on those words!" he replied, his sickle whistling through the air.

"That's where you're wrong!" he knocked Eric's sickle upwards and over his head, leaving him open. He stabbed at Eric's stomach only to have the his attack repelled by his semblance.

He grunted in discomfort and back stepped, looking up at the screen. The attack had taken out a tenth of his aura. He glared at the cocky ranger, anger radiating from his body. "Looks like I was going to easy on you!" he mumbled something under his breath and his blade became alight with flame. "I'll end this quickly!"

"Don't think of me as just some damn pushover!" He felt his gut grow tight as he activated his semblance. The golden wing appeared on his back, crackling with unstable energy. His own blade began to glow faintly with golden light, as he pointed it at Eric.

An excited murmur began to spread throughout the balcony as both fighters grew serious. Professor Goodwitch began to contemplate ending the match before things got out of hand, but wasn't given the chance to act as both boys charged at each other.

"Let's see you hand this!" Swinging his blade in an arc, Raishun grew closer and closer to Eric.

"It's useless!" Eric growled, skillfully ducking under Raishun's attack, he sliced upwards at his chest. The two fighters stopped behind each other, neither of them moving an inch. They held their poses until the wing on Raishun's back disappeared, and he fell to the ground unmoving.

Eric flicked his wrist, and his sickle disappeared in the flash of embers it had appeared in. He walked over to the fallen Ranger and kneeled down next to him. "Next time you accept my challenge, make sure you actually stand chance."

The crowd cheered for Eric's victory, serenading the victor with applause. Team RGLA quickly jumped down and made their way over to their fallen teammate. Gil was the first to reach him.

"Is he alright?" Laura asked, a hint of worry seeping into her usually stoic voice.

"He'll be fine." Gil replied nonchalantly, "His aura just overloaded from that last hit is all. He'll be out for a while."

"That's a relief." Alisa, poked Raishun in the cheek several times. "Though if we does die do I get his weapon?"

Her teammates shot her a dirty look. "What, I was only trying to lighten the mood." She bent over, and grabbed Raishun's legs, "Gil get his arms, let's get him to the infirmary."

He complied with her order and grabbed his leader by the arms. Together the team left the arena towards the infirmary, leaving Eric standing in the arena alone.

Eric watched as they carried their unconscious leader towards the infirmary. Suddenly he winced and looked down at his arm, he tried to make a fist but all he could feel was numbness. He's definitely awakened the spirit in his blade. He finally succeeded in making a fist and smiled. Looks like this year won't be so boring after all.


	5. Chapter 4: Power Struggle

Serah sat calmly on her couch, watching the tv which showed her Ranger's point of view during the day. She watched with a bored expression, wishing for something to happen when Raishun fell through the roof unconscious. She looked down at him from her corner of the couch and smiled. "About time you got here, I was starting to worry."

She moved her finger in an upwards motion, and his body began to levitate off the ground. Carefully, he slowly began to float towards her until he dropped onto the couch with his head in her lap. Satisfied, she went back to watching the TV, humming softly while she ran her fingers through his unkempt hair. "God your hair's unmanageable."

The young Ranger slowly opened his eyes, the sensation of someone playing with his hair rousing him from his slumber. He groaned, remembering his fight with Eric and how his final gambit had failed. "Ugh, I can't believe I lost."

"It's not that surprising if you ask me." Serah continued playing with his hair. "You don't have any training, after all, you just copy what you see in video games."

"Ouch, way to be blunt." He paused, realizing the world was sideways. He turned his head and looked up at Serah's face. "...Why am I on your lap?" He asked, a hint of red tingeing his cheeks.

"What? You don't like it?" She teased, tracing circles with her fingertip on his forehead.

"No it's relaxing in its- I MEAN!" He cleared his throat. "It's just not appropriate in this situation!" He rolled off her lap and settled in on his corner off the couch, regaining his composure. "So… How bad did I lose that fight?"

She mulled it over for a bit, holding a finger under her chin. "I'm not going to lie." She pointed the finger at him with a cheeky grin. "You got your ass whooped." She said in her best impression of Gil, causing the Ranger to suppress a laugh.

The TV was currently showing Raishun's Point of view from the moment the fight started. "Watch the arm holding the sickle carefully." She said cheerfully, slowly scooting closer to her Ranger.

He didn't notice, his focus fully on the TV, waiting to see what the deal was with Eric's arm. Nothing seemed to be happening with his arm. "I don't see anything weird with his arm?" turning to face Serah, he saw that she seemed closer than before. "Are… are you moving closer?"

"What, no! It's just your imagination keep watching." She looked at the screen from the corner of her eye, it had reached the part where Raishun activated his semblance. "It'll happen around here, so pay close attention okay."

He returned his attention to the TV, watching as he and Eric rushed each other. Right before Eric's blow connected with his body, his arm began to glow with a faint red light, similar to a fire.

"What the heck was that?" he wondered, cringing as the Raishun on screen got hit and fell. "Was that his- GAH!" He grunted in discomfort as Serah through her arms around him, pressing herself against him.

"Aw, my poor little Raishun got hit." She cooed, turning to face the screen with the image of Eric on it, her eyes brimming with determination. "I'll never forgive him!"

"Get off me will you, I'm not some little kid!" He shrugged her off, giving her a confused look. "And what was that anyway?"

"Well, that wasn't his semblance that's for sure. His semblance seemed to be weapon materialization, and a person can't have more than two semblances." She lectured, a disgusted look suddenly crossed her face. "Well… there is one person, but we don't talk about him."

"Okay? Back on topic, how did he use that second semblance?" He questioned, staring at the hooded boy on the screen.

"The only way a person can have more than one semblance is if they let their Imperial Arm possess them." She turned to the screen resting her head on her hand. "So that sickle could be an Imperial Arm."

"He's a Ranger!?" He held his head in disbelief, trying to get a grasp on the situation. "Why didn't he get called onstage like I did then?"

"Unlike you, he actually does a good job of hiding it." She glared at the screen. "I bet Ozpin doesn't even know."

"Wait. Earlier you said he was possessed." He stared at the spirit, an idea popping into his head. "Why don't you possess me?"

"I can," Serah replied bluntly. "But only for about a minute since you're so weak. And you still haven't fed me enough."

"So why didn't you do it during the fight? And what do you mean feed you?" He asked curiously.

"Oh…" she froze and looked at him guiltily. "I kinda, sorta, accidentally forgot." She quickly jumped off the couch and slammed a button on the wall. "Too many questions, goodbye!"

"Serah don't you dare get rid of me!" He yelled, moving to chase after her, only to quickly disappear from the world with a cartoonish pop.

She made her way back to her couch, and flopped down on it, staring at the TV which began to show the world from Raishun's point of view in real time. "Now, let's see how much you'll grow."

Daylight broke through the blinds of the infirmary, forcing Raishun awake. He groaned in discomfort as he sat up, his body sore from his fight with Eric. The smell of rubbing alcohol stung his nostrils, and the unfamiliar environment made him feel uneasy. "I guess this is the infirmary," he guessed, looking at the white sheets that surrounded his bed. Memories of his fight he had lost began to flood into his head, causing the Ranger to clench the bedsheets in his hands tightly. Silently cursing his lack of skill, he vowed that he wouldn't be beaten again.

"Ah, I see you're awake." A gloved hand moved the wall of sheets around his bed, revealing a woman who he could only assume was the doctor. "You really are something special you know." Pulling out her scroll, she began to search something up. "I didn't think you'd be up by now."

The doctor was young, probably only a few years older than Raishun, and had on a white lab coat over a red dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. A small golden caduceus was stitched onto the right breast pocket of the shirt, and a black pleated skirt tied the look together nicely. Her messy chestnut colored hair was all over the place, with several strands obscuring her clear blue eyes and pale forehead.

"What do you mean?" He looked at her with a confused expression on his face, "I was only out for a day right?"

"You've been out for a week actually." She stated matter of factly and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Though I expected you to be out longer considering the condition you were in." She found what she was looking for, and showed him her scroll. On it was a picture of his face, with a bar next to it that seemed to be empty. "You're aura was completely depleted during your fight with that student. With damage you took, it should've taken you at least a month to recover." Her eyes examined his face curiously, "And yet it only took you a week to completely restore your aura."

A small shiver ran down his spine at the thought of being trapped in the infirmary for a month. "It's probably just because I have an Imperial Arm." He smiled at her kindly, her curious gaze making him a bit nervous. "I'm nothing special."

"Oh, but you are!" Her whole body seemed to perk up, as she explained her findings. "I've never met anyone with as little aura as you have!"

"Er… what." He stared at her blankly, trying to comprehend what he had just heard.

"The level of aura you have has only ever been seen in young children, but never in someone your age!" She leaned in closer so that her face was only inches away from his. Her eyes brimmed with excitement, and she grabbed onto his shoulders tightly. "Is it alright for me to run tests on you? Oh, think of all the things we can find out and discover!"

"T-that's fine I guess…" he said in defeat, perturbed by the fact that he only had a level of aura equivalent to that of a child. It was hard for him to say no when she was fired up. "But aren't you a little to close?" he commented, prying her hands from his shoulders gently. "I don't want someone to come in and get the wrong idea."

Just as he finished his sentence, the rest of Team Regalia walked through the door to check on their leader, with Gil in lead. They all had worried looks on their faces, expecting to see no change in their unconscious teammate.

"Good morning Dr. Hazel," Gil said in a serious tone of voice, turning the corner and walking into the exam room where Raishun and the Doctor were. "Have there been any changes with our… leader…" He trailed off weakly, seeing his leader and the Doctor sitting in bed inches away from each other.

Raishun turned and saw Gil in the doorway. "I can explain! It's not what it looks like!" He said desperately with a pleading look in his eyes,

Alisa walked to Gil's side, and with an irritated look on her face. "Gil you're holding up the line back… here…" She stared blankly at the sight before her for a bit and quickly grabbed Gil by his arm. "Uh… looks like we have the wrong room." She said nervously, "We didn't see anything!" she led Gil out of the infirmary, leaving Laura in the room.

Raishun looked at Laura nervously. "Now I know this looks bad." He pleaded, remembering what she thought when he and Alisa were in a compromising situation. "But it's not."

Laura looked down at her leader in anger and disgust. "It looks like you finally woke up, and what's the first thing I see you doing?" She pointed a finger at them accusingly. "You haven't even been awake for a day, and you're already trying to get it on with some girl!" Her words dripped with spite, each one of her words pierced him like a blade. Her voice grew louder with each word until she was yelling at him. "You're not fit to be our leader!" She clenched her fists, her knuckles turned away. She looked like she wanted to punch him, but she swallowed her anger and turned away, storming out of the Infirmary.

Raishun moved to go to her but was stopped by Dr. Hazel grabbing onto his shoulder. He turned to her and she shook her head no.

"She needs some time alone." She stated, moving from the bed back to her desk. "You should be good to go now." She looked at him from her chair, tapping a pen to her lips thoughtfully. "Your low level of aura shouldn't be a problem right now, but come back next week for a checkup." She pointed to a small black chest at the foot of his bed. "Your clothes are in there, so get changed and leave when you're ready."

She pulled the curtains back around his bed, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He bit the inside of his cheek, frowning at the sheets. _She has a point… I don't have training like they do... I'm not from here…_ He walked to the foot of his bed and opened the chest, revealing his school uniform folded neatly inside. With a heavy heart, he changed and made his way to the dining hall.  
-

Laura threw the doors to the headmasters office open and stormed inside. The thoughts of what Raishun had done were still fresh in her mind, causing her to seethe with anger. Ozpin noticed her coming from behind his desk, and moved to speak but was but was cut off by her slamming her hands on his desk. The wood cracked beneath her hands, and she glared at the headmaster. "I demand you make me leader of Team Regalia instead of Raishun!" She demanded, the cracks spreading across the desk. "He's completely unqualified for the position, he didn't even know what a semblance was before he came to this school!"

"Hmm… I see this is news to me." Ozpin sipped from his coffee mug, tapping his cane on the ground thoughtfully. "I'll consider your request, though I must ask what triggered this reaction of yours?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

She glared at the cracks in the desk, remembering how her leader behaved and presented himself on his first day. "Many things point to him not being a good leader, we'd be here all day if I named them all." She said coldly.

"I assume you've thought this though of course," he responded calmly, looking at her over his glasses. "You seem to be rather agitated at the moment, so perhaps you should take some time to cool off before you make a decision such as-"

"Agitated or not, I know what I'm doing!" She cut him off, stepping back from his desk, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. "Why did you make him a leader in the first place, he was next to useless in the entrance exam."

He stopped tapping his cane on the ground, a serious look crossing his face as he spoke. "Trust me, Ms. Izuna, It's no understatement to say that I make every choice for a reason." He looked at her as if he were trying to figure out what made her tick. "I saw potential in him… The potential to become something greater than he is now. His status as a Ranger should be proof of that potential enough."

Her expression turned sour, but she seemed to calm down a bit. "I disagree… but I'll trust your judgment for now." She on her heel and faced the door. "You said you'd consider it, that's all I wanted to hear." Trying to regain her composure, she did her best to calmly walk out of the office.

"Oh, one more thing Ms. Izuna," He added, "Please make an appointment next time instead of letting yourself in and ruining my poor desk." He looked down at it sadly, as if it were a dear friend on his deathbed. "The wood is quite expensive."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir." She replied curtly. "I'll call my father to have it replaced later." She walked out and closed the door behind her, trying her best to ignore her cheeks growing hot with embarrassment. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she decided to join her team for some breakfast and began to walk to the dining hall.

Team Regalia sat together in the dining hall, tension hung in the air like a dark cloud above the group. Raishun had explained what had really happened in the infirmary to his team during their history class together. Gil and Alisa had understood and laughed it off, but Laura still wouldn't talk to him.

"Come on Laura!" He complained, "What's the big deal anyway, it was just an accident…" He trailed off, as a boy with panda ears and a small tail walked past them. There seemed to people like him all around school. "Why are there so many people wearing animal ears and tails?" he asked his team curiously, "Is that like a trend I don't know about or something?"

"Those aren't fake you idiot." Eric stopped by the group, his own team not far behind. "They're called Faunus, and they were born that way."

"Wait so those are real!" He pointed a girl sitting at a distant table with brown bunny ears on her head.

"Yes, they're real." Eric slapped his hand down, giving him a disappointed look. "And it's not polite to point at people to knock it off." He said roughly, walking off to find his own table to sit at.

A hopeful smile slowly crept across Raishun's face. "So if she can have bunny ears… Then that means there are catgirls!" he cheered excitedly, causing his team to look away in shame.

"If anyone asks, we don't know this person okay?" Gil whispered to his teammates, who both nodded in agreement.

"I knew he was a pervert." Laura sighed, looking at her leader with disgust. "As I said before, you're obviously unqualified to be a leader." She rested a hand on her chest and stood up. "Which is why I'll be taking over as leader of team Regalia from here on out." She declared, looking at Raishun in defiance.

The smile of joy slowly disappeared from his face, "Is that so huh, have you talked to Ozpin about it?" He asked, holding onto the hope that she was joking. "Is it because of what happened earlier?" he did his best to hide the hurt that was trying to creep into his voice.

"He said the change is as good as done." She lied with a straight face. "You were never meant to be leader anyways, so consider this a blessing." She said coldly.

Raishun began to chew on the inside of his cheek nervously, clenching his fists beneath the table. "Is that so…" He took a deep breath, and his demeanor changed completely. A smile crept across his face again, "Welp, thanks for taking that load off my shoulders, Laura!" He stretched his arms above his head. "Being a leader was a huge pain in the ass anyway! I'm surprised you even want this crappy title-"

She quickly leaned over the table and slapped him across the face, creating a loud crack that filled the room. Everyone's attention turned to the two hunters, as she glared at her leader. "How can you be so inconsiderate…" She growled with a shaky breath, her long hair obscuring her eyes.

He yelped in pain and quickly stood, towering above the short hunter. His anger flared, and he glared at his teammate. "What the hell was that… for…" He trailed off, taking a good look at her face. Silent tears slid down her cheeks. HIs anger quickly faded, regret filling the void it once filled. "Laura… are you-"

"Shut up!" She ordered, clenching her fists so hard her knuckles turned white. "I don't want to hear what you have to say!" With each word, her voice began to grow louder and louder, until she was yelling. "People train their whole lives to be a leader… I trained my whole life to be a leader! And you just treat it like some sort of burden!" He tears began to drip onto the cold floor, and she looked at him with pure anger in her eyes. "You just swooped in and stole my future, and you didn't even work for it!"

"Laura, I didn't mean-" He tried to reason with her, but she simply turned on her heel and walked off towards the exit.

She stopped in front of the entrance and looked at him over her shoulder. "I'm ashamed to even call you my teammate!" She spat, before storming out of the cafeteria.

Gil shot him a dirty look, "Wow… I expected more from you. Come on Alisa!" He ran off after his cousin, Alisa offering Raishun an apologetic shrug before running after Gil. Leaving the Ranger alone with a hundred pairs of eyes on him.

He stared blankly at the spot where Laura had stood, trying to think of what to do. The feeling of the eyes on him kept him from thinking, and he abandoned his half-eaten breakfast on the table to wander around campus.

"Damnit! Why am I so stupid!" Raishun yelled. He had been wandering around campus aimlessly all day, trying to forget about the guilt he felt. Somehow he had ended up in an abandoned hallway, he slammed his fist on the wall in frustration. "Of course being leader meant a lot to her! Why did I have to go and say all that stuff…" A light shone from an open set of doors at the end of the hall, distracting him from his thoughts. Slowly, he moved forward to investigate the source of the light.

He peered through the doors and stared in awe. The doors led to an open-air balcony that oversaw the courtyard and entrance to the campus. The shattered moon in the sky flooded the balcony with dim moonlight, illuminating the figure of a girl wearing beacon's uniform. She solemnly looked out over the campus, resting her arms on the railing. Sensing that she wanted to be alone, he tried to quietly leave but she heard him somehow.

"H-hello, who's there?" she asked, turning to face the open doorway. Her voice carried a hint of sadness. "I know you're there, so can you come out please?"

He let out a sigh and walked onto the balcony. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you." Now that he was closer, he could clearly see her features. She had short cropped black hair, with red accents at the tips. A red cape rested on her shoulders, and her silver eyes examined him closely

"It's okay." She chirped half-heartedly, "I've just had a rough day is all…"

"Yeah, I feel you," he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked up at the pieces of the moon hanging in the sky. "My teammate just told me I'm not cut out to be a leader."

"Oh, you too huh." She beckoned him over, and they leaned on the railing next to each other. "One of my teammates didn't like that I got made leader instead of her…"

"What a coincidence." He grinned, staring at the treeline blankly. "Did your's have white hair too?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" She looked at her with a shocked look on her face, that quickly turned into fear. "You aren't a stalker or anything are you?"

"I didn't know, I just guessed is all." He couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction, "Maybe all girls with white hair are like that."

"Maybe." she shrugged and quickly perked up. "Oh, I never told you my name." She placed her hands on her hips proudly. "I'm Ruby Rose."

"I'm Raishun Alenko. Slayer of women, and wooer of evil!" He struck a heroic pose, pretending to hold a sword over his head.

She laughed, "I think you've got it backward."

"Oh… whoops." He chuckled, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. "Did not mean for that to happen."

Her mood seemed to improve, "So, what should we do about our leader problem?" she tapped the side of her head. "My uncle Qrow said two heads are better than one, so why don't you give me a hand here."

"He's not wrong," He replied and began to think. "Well for you, I say you go back to your dorm and just be yourself. You seem like a really capable girl, so I'm sure your teammate will warm up to you with time!"

"You really think so?" Ruby said cheerfully, looking at the Ranger hopefully.

"You bet!" He pointed to the open doorway, "So why don't you go back there, and be the best leader that Beacon has ever had!"

"Will do! Thanks for the pep talk Raishun!" In a flash of rose petals, she ran back into the hall and disappeared. Leaving him with a small smile on his face.

 _Wait… Didn't we forget to think of something for me?_ He thought, sighing in defeat. "Man that girls energy is contagious," he muttered, walking back into the hall and making his way towards his dorm room. He didn't get far when he heard the sounds of a scuffle coming from the staircase in front of him.

"Please just let me go! What did I ever do to you?" A female voice cried out. He quickly jumped down the stairs and landed on the floor below.

A group of three guys was harassing a girl with bunny ears. One of them pulled on her ears roughly, "Shut up you Faunus trash!" He growled, pushing throwing her to the floor. "Scum like you shouldn't even be allowed to attend this school!"

Anger began to boil up from inside of him, "Hey bastards, over here!" He yelled, running up to them.

They seemed surprised by his presence and were caught off guard when Raishun punched the one who had pulled on the girl's ear square in the jaw.

"Argh, what the hell!" The boy growled, holding his jaw and taking a step back defensively.

Raishun stood in front of the girl, the wing on his back crackled to life, illuminating the room with yellow light. He glared at the three students in front of him, "How about you cowards try taking on a Ranger instead of a defenseless girl."


	6. Chapter 5: Challenge

"If you want to get to her, then you'll have to go through me!" Raishun barked, the yellow wing on his back illuminated the area in a soft glow. He stretched his arms wide, keeping the group from getting to the girl behind him. "Sorry I'm late, I was dealing with some things." He apologized with a small smile. "Everything's gonna be okay now."

The girl pressed herself against the wall and stared at her apparent savior. She had chocolate colored hair and eyes, the school's uniform fit her body nicely. Her most prominent feature was the brown bunny ears on the top of her head, that reached about a foot above her head. "Y-yeah," She whispered, giving him a confused look.

Nodding, he returned his attention to the three students in front of him. He lowered his arms and took a step towards them. "I'm gonna level with you, today's been a pretty bad day. So I'm not in the best mood right now." he threatened, a cocky grin spreading across his face, "So if you all leave now, I'll spare you the beating I was planning on giving you."

The one Raishun had punched seemed to be the leader of the group, he held his jaw and sauntered up to the Ranger. His pale white complexion and indigo eyes shone in the light. He was a few inches taller than him, his orange hair was combed backward and had a slight peak at the front, which added an extra inch. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." he gestured to his allies with one hand and poked him in the chest hard. "Well, we don't want to leave. Because the way I see it we have you outnumbered two to one."

Raishun laughed, smiling at the leader in front of him. "I know, that's what makes it a fair fight." he chirped in a lighthearted voice, cracking his knuckles, "I hope you all know what you're getting yourselves into."

The boy moved to punch him, but a loud bang to their right made him stop in his tracks. "What the!?" Footsteps began to echo through the halls, beams of light appearing on the stairwell. "Crap, it's campus security!" He cried in panic as he and his team scrambled for a place to hide.

A plan popped into Raishun's head, he turned to the girl behind him. "Sorry about this!" He said, scooping her up in his arms. She yelped in surprise, holding onto his neck as he sprinted down the flight of stairs at the opposite end of the hall. Thanks to his semblance, he moved faster than normal, the wind howling in his ears as he ran. It didn't take them long to reach the courtyard, where the stopped underneath a tree.

"Down you go," He groaned, gently lowering her to the ground before collapsing against the tree. "Man, that was scary."

The girl took a deep breath to steady herself and sat next to him. "Thanks for saving me there-" She paused, hard in thought. "Sorry, but this our first time meeting. She said with a nervous smile, "Who are you exactly?"

"I'm Raishun, from team Regalia." He said in between breaths, wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. "And you are?"

"Velvet!" A feminine voice to their right cried.

The two hunters quickly rose to their feet, turning to face the source of the voice. "Behind me," Raishun ordered as he saw a woman with chestnut colored hair, the tips of which were dyed a light brown color. Her designer shades kept him from seeing her eyes. His semblance burst to life, though the yellow wing on his back was unstable, it's image distorting from time to time like television static.

"Get away from my teammate!" She roared, producing a briefcase from behind her back that she raised above her head. She brought it down, slamming it into his head. He fell to his knees, raising his hands in defense when she brought it down again.

"Wait, I'm not trying to hurt her!" He cried through grit teeth, his legs beginning to shake as they struggled to support his weight. Stars began to dot his vision, the realization that he wouldn't last much longer began to set in.

"Tell me what you did to her!" She backed away, and her briefcase morphed into a large Gatling gun that she pointed at his head. "I won't ask you again." She hissed, her shades sliding down her nose, revealing eyes that bore into him like daggers.

"No, you've got it wrong Coco!" Velvet quickly darted out from behind Raishun, grabbing onto her teammate's arm and forcing the barrel to the ground. "He's not on Cardin's team! He saved me from them."

She gave the Ranger a discerning look, tapping the trigger of her gun idly. "Alright then." Nodding, she returned the gun to its briefcase form. "Sorry about that, Velvet's just precious to me is all."

"Yeah, I noticed, He noted, slowly rising to his feet. The wing on his back disappeared in a flash of light. "What is up with you people and guns?"

"They're easy to use and give us a lot of options in battle." She explained, pressing a finger to her lower lip. "Actually now that I think about, everything here is a gun."

"Huh, I'll keep that in mind. But did you have to hit me with your briefcase! That thing hurts you know!" He yelled, pointing a finger at her accusingly.

She raised an eyebrow and shushed him. "Keep your voice down unless you want security to come after us." She began to play with a loose strand of hair by her forehead. "And I'm surprised you're still standing after taking a hit like that, most people just stay down."

"Yeah, well I'm just full of surprises!" He smirked, running a hand through his hair. "Know if you ladies will excuse me, I have a team to get back to- Why is the ground moving closer?" He asked, before collapsing onto the ground, unconscious.

Velvet rushed to his side, shaking him softly. "Do you think he'll be okay?" She asked, biting her lip in concern.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, but more importantly…" She turned to her teammate, mock anger dripping from her voice. "Why didn't you tell me he was on your side before I slammed my weapon into his head? This thing's heavy you know!" She moved to her teammate and slapped Raishun on the cheek twice. "Call Yatsuhashi." She relented with a sigh, "Let's get him back to his dorm at least."

Laura paced around her room, chewing on her fingernail nervously. Raishun still hadn't returned to the dorm room, and they hadn't seen him at any of the classes they shared. Her mind began to go to a dark place, thinking she had caused the Ranger to quit. "I only wanted to teach him a lesson, not make him quit for good…" She murmured under her breath.

Gil sat calmly at his desk, polishing a set of two black rings. "What's wrong?" he asked, inspecting the rings closely. "It's not ladylike to chew on your nails you know, it's a bad habit."

She shot her cousin a glare, "It's Raishun, he still hasn't come back." She stormed over to him and slugged him in the shoulder softly, "And I don't need you criticizing me right now, what If I made him quit."

"I don't know." He sighed, slipping one ring onto each of his hands. "But if he did quit, it wasn't your fault." Reaching a hand out, he slowly rubbed her head. "And keep your voice down, you'll wake sleeping beauty over there." He chastised, pointing to Alisa who was fast asleep.

A knock at the door made her pull away, "I'll get it." she said softly. She opened the door, "Why are you back so late… you… idiot…" She stopped, frozen in place at the sight before her.

Standing in the doorway, was a tall man in bright green armor. A large orange sword sat on his back, but the most shocking part was that an unconscious Raishun was slung over his shoulder. "Good evening, I'm Yatsuhashi."

She quickly jumped back from the door, her eyes went wide and she instinctively reached for the swords at her side only to find they weren't there. "Gil!" She cried frantically, "Use your Relic-"

"Please wait a moment!" He said politely, raising his free hand as a gesture of peace. "My leader, unfortunately, knocked your teammate unconscious due to a misunderstanding." He pointed to the Ranger slung over his shoulder, "May I please come in?"

Gil stared at his cousin nervously, ready to jump in and help if needed. "It's your call."

"Y-yeah, let me help you." She stepped aside and pointed her palm at Raishun. Purple light began to flow from her hand, enveloping Raishun's body. He immediately began to grow lighter in Yatsuhashi's arms, and he was able to put him to bed with ease.

"Again, I'm sorry for intruding." He nodded respectfully, "If you'll excuse me, I have a class tomorrow morning I must prepare for." With that, he excused himself, closing the door behind him.

Laura lowered her palm and let out the breath she had been holding. "That's a weight off my shoulders." Softly, she brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes, her eyes looking down in sadness.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" Gil asked curiously, giving her a suspicious look.

"Nothing," She stated matter of factly, walking over to her own bed and diving under the covers. "I'm turning in for the night, don't stay up too late."

"Gotcha, good night," Gil replied, staring at the rings on his hands in disgust. He pried them off, placing them in a box under his bed. "That was a close one…"

The next morning, team Regalia made their way to their lunch table calmly. Raishun hung back from his team, grabbing an extra serving of bacon from the buffet. 'Heck yeah," He muttered, staring at the juicy slices hungrily. He moved to rejoin his ream only to have Cardin run into him on purpose, causing him to spill his bacon onto the floor.

"My bacon!" He cried, his sadness quickly turned to anger. "Watch where you're going!" He spat, then paused, staring at Cardin's face closely, "Hey, aren't you that guy from last night, your name was… uh…" His brow furrowed in thought. "Calzone right?"

"NO, IT'S CARDIN!" He yelled, clenching his fists at his sides. One of his teammates whispered something in his ear, and he quickly calmed down. "Anyways." He cleared his throat, "It's because of you that me and my associates over here ended up getting caught last night!" he growled, glaring at the Ranger, "I think you owe us a little blood for our troubles."

"It's no my problem that you got caught." He spat, looking past Cardin, he motioned for his team to carry on without him. His demeanor quickly changed from being relaxed to one of anger. "If anything, you're about to bleed for ruining my precious bacon!" he poked him in the chest roughly.

"THAT DOES IT!" Cardin punched Raishun in the gut, making the Ranger double over. He tried to follow up with a jab only to have him dodge it.

"Back off!" Raishun growled, knocking him to the ground and driving his shoe into his stomach. "Like I said yesterday, I'm not in the best mood right now so if you want to get beaten in front of the whole school then be my guest!"

He looked at the small crowd that had begun to form around the two, "Get off me." He spat, pushing the foot off his stomach and jumping to his feet. "How about you and I have a little sparring match after the field trip." He adjusted his blazer, brushing it off. "One against one, sound good?"

"Find by me." He glared at the leader in front of him, "Now get out of my sight before I decide to avenge my bacon."

Cardin grits his teeth and moved as if he was going to try and punch him again. Instead, he let out a tired sigh and walked away with his team, "I'll see you then."

Raishun sighed, and walked back to his own table, only to be met by Velvet standing by his table, her eyes darting from side to side nervously. She gave him an awkward wave and motioned him over.

"Hey, everything okay?" He asked in a worried tone, looking her over for any cuts or bruises. "Cardin isn't messing with you is he?"

"No, it's just… I saw what happened back there." She clenched her hands tightly in front of her, "I want you to walk away from this." she said sadly.

"Huh, but why?" He asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"Because this doesn't affect you at all." Her words dripped with anxiety, "Before last night you didn't even know about me or my problems, so why are you trying to get involved." She looked away, "There aren't many people who like my kind…"

"I want to help you because I want to." He answered, "I haven't known you for long, but I want you to be able to have fun, not live in fear." He grinned and cracked his knuckles, "Besides, that bastard made me waste a perfectly good plate of bacon… plus…" he rubbed the nape of his neck nervously. "You seem like a genuinely good person, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

She looked at him, thinking of how to respond. "B-but my ears, don't you think they look ugly!" she pointed to her ears desperately.

"No, I think they're kind of cute actually." He replied nonchalantly. It took him a moment to realize he had said what he was thinking out loud. "I-I mean! They look okay, no I mean that- argh." He covered his eyes in embarrassment.

"You're… really something you know that." She giggled, "I wish there were more people like you out there." She looked past him and nodded, "Well, looks like my teams here." she leaned in "See you later… hero." She teased, running off to join her team.

He waved goodbye, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. A cold shiver ran down his spine when she was out of sight, "Why do I sense murderous intent?" He murmured, slowly turning to see Laura glaring at him. They hadn't spoken to each other since what had happened yesterday, so tensions were high.

"Who was that back there?" She asked, tapping her fork on her plate idly. "I hope you're not flirting with any more girls, I wouldn't want you to tarnish our reputation."

"Look, what happened at the nurse's office was a misunderstanding, same thing with Alisa." He explained, "She's just a friend of mine." He took a seat across from her and tried to steal a hash brown from Alisa only to have her smack his hand away.

"Whatever," Laura retorted, "I'm more concerned about your plan to fight Cardin. I'm only going to say this once, so listen closely." She glared at him, stabbing her fork into the table. "Walk away, you aren't strong enough to fight him."

"You know, everyone I meet today's been saying the same thing." His stomach knotted in anger, and he tried to keep himself from yelling in frustration. "Just because I lost one fight doesn't mean I'm weak!"

"Yes, it does!" She yelled, looking at him with pity in her eyes. "You and Eric were both Rangers, but he wiped the floor with you! It's as if you were fighting someone for the first time!"

"If this is about what I said yesterday then I'm sorry okay!" He sighed, looking at her sadly. "I spoke without considering your feelings, and you didn't deserve to hear that from me." He slammed his hand on the table, glaring at her. "But I'm not going to back off, I'm going to fight him even if it kills me!"

She looked at him in shock, clenching a fist over her chest. "Fine, if you want to go get yourself hurt then go right ahead!" She quickly stood, her white hair covering her face. "Let's go Gil!" she ordered, walking out of the dining hall.

"Sorry, duty calls," Gil stated bluntly, standing and following his cousin.

Raishun let out a sigh, "Well, I guess it's just you and me Alisa- and she's asleep." He groaned, burying his face in his arms. "What is my team?"

Laura stormed through the halls towards her room, Gil following close behind her. She clenched her fists in frustration, her nails digging into her palm. Raishun always managed to infuriate her in some way, and it was starting to get to her.

"Hey, there sweet cheeks." Cardin stepped in front of her, leaning against the wall to keep her from going around him. "Why don't you come hang out with us, we'll show you a good time-" He paused, looking at her closely. "Have we met before, you look familiar."

She gave him a disgusted look, "No, we've never met before. Which would explain why you don't know who you're messing with." A faint purple light began to emanate from her clenched fists.

"Woah, let's calm down for a second. I may not know you, but maybe we could get to know each other better." He flirted with a wink, "I'm Cardin, and you are?" he gripped her shoulder lightly, only to have his wrist pried off by Gil. He yelped in pain and yanked his arm back. His team quickly rushed to his aid, crowding around him protectively.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you," Gil growled, reaching into his pocket and slipping the black rings onto his fingers. "Otherwise you'll end up with more than a sprained wrist." he threatened, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"Cardin Winchester," Laura calmly walked behind her cousin, looking down at her scroll. "You're the one Raishun's supposed to fight," She glared at him, "That explains why you were waiting out here, planning to ambush him were you?"

Cardin flinched, "How do you-" His eyes widened in realization, and he took a step back. "Wait, you're on his team aren't you!" He pointed at her, his face flushed red with anger. "Take her out!" He commanded, he and his team surging forward.

"Laura," Gil sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, "What should I do?"

"Let's do Raishun a favor why don't we?" She closed her scroll, slipping it into her pocket. "Teach them a lesson, but no broken bones or we'll get in trouble" She ordered, "Try to make it entertaining this time."

"Understood." He replied, the rings on his hands glowing softly as he ran to meet them halfway.

"Please teach me how to activate Possession!" Raishun pleaded, kneeling in front of Serah. They two were back in the all too familiar room, "I have a fight with Cardin coming up, and I need all the help I can get."

"First off, you don't have to tell me everything that happens you know." Serah pointed to the TV in front of her, which was currently showing static. "This baby right here shows me everything that you see in real time, so I get to watch your every move throughout the day."

"Wait, so you see everything I do…" He stared at her blankly, looking as if he had been punched in the gut. He looked up at her nervously, "Even when-"

"ESPECIALLY then!" She smirked, looking down at the panicking Ranger. "Secondly, I can't possess you because you haven't fed me yet." She patted the space next to her, motioning for him to join her on the couch.

He cleared his throat and did his best to recover as he took a seat next to her. "Y-you said the same thing last time. What do you mean by 'feed you'? Do I have to go buy you a steak or something from the cafeteria?"

"No, although that does sound appetizing…" She looking off into the distance longingly, thinking about the last time she ate a steak. "I eat your emotions, strong ones at that."

"Emotion?" He poked her forehead, bringing her back to reality. "How exactly am I supposed to cook emotions.

She recoiled in mock pain and punched him in the shoulder playfully. "It can't be the kind you feel on a regular basis. It has to be stuff like rage or anguish." She explained, "Though I think rage would be the best option since it also works with Rage Burst!"

"My… what?" He gave her a confused look.

"Oh, it's what I decided to name your semblance!" She leaned into him, resting against his chest, "I noticed that your semblance works better when you angry, so I named it Rage Burst!" She chirped, a playful glint in her eye, "Cool name huh!"

"... It has a nice ring to it." He admitted quietly, earning a giggle from Serah. He poked her cheek in irritation, "But all I have to do is feel something strong right? Then you can fight him for me."

She shifted away from his chest and laid her head on his lap. "Why can't you fight him yourself?" She asked, letting out a comfortable sigh. "He's pretty weak, so why do you have to rely on me."

He looked down at her with a serious look on his face. "Because I don't have training like everyone else here does." He began to play with her hair absentmindedly, "What if I mess up during the fight, as much as I hate to admit it, they're better than I am right now."

She reached up, cupping his cheeks softly in her hands. She looked into his eyes deeply, her cheeks puffed out as she pouted, "Don't you get all negative on me, you'll do fine." She sat up and pressed her forehead against his. "Just because everyone says your weak doesn't mean you are." She whispered, "I chose you as my Ranger after all, so that counts for something."

"Yeah…" He said in a shaky voice, wrapping his arms around her. "Thanks for that."

She let out a content sigh, wrapping her arms around his neck. Feeling that they needed a change of pace, a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Are you done being a downer, 'cause if not I can kiss you better."

He laughed, pushing her head away. "Yeah, I think I'll pass." he stood up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, "Thanks for the pep talk though."

"Don't mention it, we're a team after all!" She chirped, looking at him kindly, "Just come back whenever okay!"

"I will!" He promised, poking her forehead, "Bye bye now!"

"Good morning sleepy head, time to get up!" Alisa chirped, poking Raishun's forehead until the Ranger stirred awake. "We're gonna be late!" She yelled.

Several weeks had passed since Raishun and Cardin had made their agreement. Surprisingly, Cardin had been avoiding him all week for some reason, muttering something about a 'Crazy bastard' every time he saw them. Raishun had managed to repair his relationship with Gil and Alisa, but Laura still refused to talk to him.

"Yeah, I'll get ready in a bit." He muttered, forcing himself to sit up. A sharp pain ran through his arm, signaling the secret training Serah had put him through was doing its work.

Gil slapped him on the back, causing him to flinch in pain. "It'll be good to see you in action again!" He taunted slipping the pair of rings into his pocket, "Hopefully this time you won't end up passed out in the infirmary for a week like last time." He was dressed in his purple fur coat and black slacks.

"Hey, that was a fluke and you know it," He cried in protest, "We all know I was going easy on Eric."

"Sure you were, and I'm the headmaster." he looked out of the corner of his eye at Laura, who sat on her bed calmly reading a book. Leaning in, he whispered in Raishun's ear. "Laura still not talking to you?"

"Yeah, I deserve it though," Raishun sighed, "I said something pretty hurtful when it came being a leader."

"I'll see what I can do," Gil gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and turned to his cousin with a bright smile on his face. "Aren't you gonna say good morning you bookworm, you two have been fighting for days now." He poked her in the forehead, "Don't you think it's time to bury the hatchet.

"Why should I?" She retorted, waving her cousin's hand away. She snapped her book shut and looked Raishun over. "He may be training, but he's still the same inexperienced child he was before."

"Wait, how did you know I was training!?" Raishun cried in shock, staring at her wide-eyed. "I thought I did a really good job of hiding it!"

"If your idea of a good job is sneaking into the dorm at midnight, and falling asleep in class every day, then yes, you did a wonderful job hiding it!" She snapped, drumming her fingers against the spine of her book impatiently.

"I thought I did a pretty good job." He mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting like a spoiled child.

"Don't worry about it." Alisa consoled him, patting his head. An idea popped into her head, and she grinned mischievously. "You know, Laura actually stays up waiting for you to get back every day." She snickered.

The white-haired girl perked up, looking at the sniper in surprise. She gripped the book in her hands tightly and opened her mouth to protest, only to be cut off by her cousin adding more fuel to the fire.

"Oh yeah!" Gil exclaimed, looking at his cousin with glee, "She pacing around our dorm room that night when Coco knocked you out!" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "She was worried sick!"

The three laughed at her expense, causing the usually stoic girl to turn a light shade of red.

"Fine, I give up!" She cried in defeat. Putting her book down, she stood and walked in front of Raishun. She looked up at him and cleared her throat, "Good morning Raishun." She murmured quietly, rubbing her shoulder nervously.

"Aww, you do care!" He laughed, spreading his arms out wide, "Come here and hug it out!"

She responded by quickly unsheathing one of the blades at her side, pointing it at his throat. Glaring at the Ranger, her cheeks turned a bright shade of red "Knock it off…" She muttered.

"Okay, so you're not a hugger." He quipped cheerfully, lowering his arms and backing away. "I was only kidding, so relax!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders which turned out to be a mistake.

"Don't say such stupid things," She huffed, ducking out from under his arm, she pointed her blade at him. "And stop trying to hug me."

Alisa's sharp eyes noticed the little changes in the blade dancer's behavior, and her eyes began to widen in disbelief. "No way!" She whispered, covering the smile that slowly grew across her face. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" She whispered excitedly to Gil, shifting her weight from side to side.

"What am I seeing?" He asked bluntly, staring at the two hunters bickering in front of him. "All I see is Raishun digging his own grave."

"She's totally crushing on him!" She cheered excitedly, keeping her voice low so Laura wouldn't hear her. "Do you see how red her face is, and how she never actually hits him with her swords."

"What…" Gil said in disbelief, his mind slowly connecting the dots. He clutched his heart with both hands as a corner of blood began to leak from the corner of his mouth. "Her… And… Raishun…" His eyes grew unfocused, as he imagined the two as a couple. Blood began to leak from his eyes as they refocused, and a scowl grew across his face. "I won't let that happen!" He raged, drawing his sword and moving to charge into the fray.

Alisa quickly held him back, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him charging in, "Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you sink this ship!"

"What are you two talking about?" Laura inquired, turning away from Raishun to give her two teammates a suspicious look. "I think I heard something about boats?"

"Oh, it's nothing! I was just thinking of buying one after we graduate is all!" Alisa blurted quickly, using a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Gil's face. "Oh don't worry about him, he just has allergies."

"Gil why didn't you tell me?" She said softly, "I could've gotten you some medicine for it." She sheathed her blades and helped wipe away the blood.

"If we can get back on topic." Raishun cut in, stretching his arms above his head and groaning in discomfort from how sore he was. "What are we doing today exactly?"

"Today we're going on a field trip to the Forever Fall with the rest of our year," Laura stated bluntly, tapping away on her scroll. "We have to be dressed in our combat gear and bring our weapons along just in case something happens."

"We have to be at the bullheads in twenty minutes, so get your butt moving!" Alisa cut in excitedly, grabbing Gil by the arm and forcing out the door. "Come on Luara, stop trying to sneak a peak of him changing!" She taunted, breaking into a sprint.

"I was not trying to sneak a peek!" Laura cried out, her face reddening as she chased after her teammates. "Get back here Alisa!"

Raishun sighed and waited a minute to make sure they wouldn't come back. Reaching under his bed, he pulled out Caligula and it's sheath, placing the two items on the bed gingerly. HIs next order of business was to look for his own combat outfit, which he couldn't find for the life of him. He began to grow stressed, as 5 minutes of searching turned into 10, and he couldn't find a trace of his gear.

"Crap!" he cursed under his breath in a panicky voice. "Where is it!?"

"Did you check in the closet?" A voice chirped from beside him.

"Of course I checked the closet-" He stopped abruptly, turning to his side but seeing no one there. "Oh go I'm going insane. Who said that there's no one here?" He murmured, grabbing his head with both hands.

"You're not insane," The voice reassured him, it had a feminine ring to it and sounded oddly familiar to him. Don't you know who I am?" It said playfully.

"No idea." He jabbed, unsheathing his blade. "Now show yourself!"

"Aw, I thought we were close." The voice pouted, "And after I held you in my lap too."

A bright flash of light blinded him for a moment, but when he opened his eyes, Serah appeared in front of him. Her body emitted a faint purple glow, "Surprise! It's me in the flesh… well… ghost now that I think about it, but you know what I mean!" She giggled, floating in circles around him. Her white and black dress billowed despite the lack of wind, blinding the Ranger.

"How are you here right now!" He rubbed the space in between his eyes, trying to wrap his head around the whole situation. "I thought you could only live in my heart, how the heck did you end up out here!"

"I used to be able to only survive inside of you, but thanks to our training, you've finally grown strong enough for me to exist outside your dreams now!" She answered cheerfully, floating above his head idly.

"Ugh, how am I gonna explain this to my team?" He sighed, thinking back to Laura's reactions when he so much as went near another woman. "Oh my god, she's gonna kill me for this isn't she."

"Don't worry about it, nobody else can see me unless you want them to see me" She consoled him, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. "Plus people and things go right through me, so no one will know I'm here." She floated in front of him and puffed out her chest. "Here, try touching it!"

He stared at her with an annoyed look on his face. "Yeah… I think I'm gonna pass." He sighed, planning to scold her on what was considered appropriate when something in the closet caught his eye. He walked over and picked up a golden box with intricate markings on it. "This wasn't there before." He shook the box lightly, hearing something shift around inside. "What's in this thing, food?"

"You see, I thought you might lose your only pair of clothes outside your school uniforms." She beamed with pride, pointing at the box in his hands. "So I made you a set of clothing you can take on the field trip!"

He opened the box, revealing a neatly folded bundle of clothing. "This is amazing Serah! Though how did you make this?" He questioned, inspecting the box closely, "I thought you said you couldn't touch anything."

"Oh that's an easy one, I made it out of your Aura silly!" She smiled brightly, placing her hands on her hips proudly. "Which is why it also only lasts for a day, after that it just disappears."

"YOU DID WHAT!" He roared, his head whipped around to face the mischevious spirit. "WHY!"

Her previous bravado quickly faded as the realization of what she had done set in. She nervously began to play with her long purple hair, "You know what, now that I think about it, This probably wasn't my brightest idea." She let out a fake laugh, slowly floating away from him. "But you'll be fine!" She said hopefully, "If anything goes wrong I'll just take over your body and protect my sweet little Raishun." She cooed.

"If you say so," He sighed, wondering how much more of her antics he could take before it drove him mad. "But still… Thanks for making me something to wear." He smiled softly, "I'll pay you back when after I fall asleep." he promised.

"You really mean it!" She perked up, floating up and down in excitement.

"Yes, I do." He replied cheerfully, "Now run along." He pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it onto the floor and reaching into the box.

"Looking good Raishun!" She wolf whistled, a deep blush spread across her face followed by a small trickle of blood from her nose. "If this is my reward, then I need to make you clothes more often!"

"Cut it out Serah you damn pervert!" He yelled, covering himself with his discarded shirt, "Stop peeking and disappear already!"

"Fine, whatever you say killjoy!" She whined, slowly fading away until nothing of her remained.

He began to change cautiously, making sure that she wasn't watching him. Once he had finished, he checked himself out in the bathroom mirror. The outfit Serah had made him fit perfectly and consisted of a white dress shirt with a yellow tie. A pair of black pants offered him a surprising amount of mobility, which he appreciated. The most surprising part of the outfit was a brown leather chest plate, that offered some light protection in his Aura deprived state.

"Man, she really pulled out all the stops," He smirked, rubbing his chin. "Though I could've done better if I had the chance," He quipped, knowing she would take the bait.

"Right, of course, you could've!" Serah scoffed, appearing beside him. "Do you know how hard it was for me to get your measurements-" She blurted, quickly slapping her hands over her mouth.

He slowly craned his neck to look at her, trying to process what he had just heard. "Why are you like this…" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Uhh… hey, look at the time!" She pointed to the scroll on his bed. "You have to be at the bullhead in five minutes!" She babbled frantically, trying to change the subject.

"Oh my god! Of course, there are only five minutes left!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "And you couldn't have given me a warning or something?"

"I could've, but I look seeing you squirm. I think it's funny." She grinned, leaning against him so her cheek faded into his a bit.

"Okay, you need Jesus!" He backed away quickly, noticing the window behind her. Now that he thought about it, the bullheads were right under his dorm room, and an idea quickly popped into his head. "Hey, Aura can disperse impacts right you pervert?"

"First off, I'm not a pervert, I'm a connoisseur," She hissed picking at a hangnail, "And define impact."

"Let's say that someone jumped from a window onto the ground below, would their aura disperse the impact?" He opened the window slowly so she wouldn't notice, and looking at the hangar hundreds of feet below him.

"Well, yeah." She replied, inspecting the rest of her nails. "How do you think Ruby and Blake don't break their legs doing all those cool flips and stuff- OH DON'T DARE DO WHAT I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO DO!" She yelled, frantically floating towards her Ranger.

"Bitch I do what I want!" He snapped climbing onto the window sill.

"No, no, no wait!" Serah tried to stop him but she was too late, and he dropped from the window, plummeting towards the ground below, "You don't have your Aura, you idiot!"

"Where the hell is that slacker?" Gil checked the time on his scroll, he looked at his team nervously, "We're going to be late if he doesn't show up soon."

"Maybe he's having trouble finding something to wear," Alisa suggested, looking through the scope of her rifle. She sighed and began tweaking the scope, trying to focus it.

"How so?" Laura asked, coming out of the bullhead, her white and yellow trench coat billowed softly in the cool autumn breeze. "Didn't he pack clothes like any other normal person?"

"Well, when I first met him, all he had on him was the clothes on his back." Alisa adjusted the scope once more, and looked through it again, nodding in satisfaction. "Now that I think about it, I didn't even see his weapon until after the entrance exam already started."

"Who really is he anyway?" Gil wondered, looking out over the campus. "He doesn't talk about his home or anything, and I've never seen a symbol on any of his gear too."

The group stood in silence for a bit, thinking about what kind of background their former leader came from.

"Maybe I should get him some stuff…" Laura murmured under her breath, lost in thought, she began to pace on the bullhead's ramp. "Like a jacket or something… Yeah, that will do."

"DId you say something, Laura?" Alisa inquired, doing her best to hide the smile that was slowly creeping across her face, "Wanna share with the group?"

"I-it's nothing." She shook her head and looked back at their dorm. As she stared, she saw a window open. A shape threw itself from the window and began to plummet towards the ground. "Hey Alis, can I borrow your rifle for a second?"

"Sure here you go," She replied, hesitantly handing over the rifle, "Why do you need it though?"

"I think someone just jumped from the dorms." She looked through the scope and immediately recognized what the falling object was. "Oh my Oum," She turned to Alisa and Gil. "That idiot just jumped!"

Alisa quickly grabbed her rifle from Laura's hands and aimed it at the flailing Ranger. "He's moving to fast." She stated in a relaxed tone, creating a bullet in one hand while the other held her rifle steady. "We need to slow him down somehow."

"I've got it!" Laura yelled, running towards him with her hand outstretched. The purple light began to glow from her hand again, and he began to fall at a slightly slower rate. "I can't slow him for long!" she cried, her arm shaking from the effort of slowing him down.

"Relax, he'll be fine." Alisa pulled the trigger, and the bullet she made flew towards Raishun.

The group watched as the bullet exploded a few meters away from him, revealing a net that flew out. It caught him mid-air and attached to the wall, keeping him suspended several feet off the ground.

"Jackpot!" Alisa cheered, slinging her rifle over her shoulder and walking towards Laura. "Now let's go cut him down so you can give him an earful."


	7. Chapter 6: Evoker

Raishun let out a small cry of discomfort as the net wrapped around him, pinning him to the wall several feet off of the ground. The net bounced up and down in the air for a second before coming to a stop, spinning around in a small circle. "That could have ended badly…" He murmured in a shaky voice.

 _"Are you stupid!"_ Serah yelled as she floated down next to him, her usually soft features contorted into a frightening glare. The light emanating from her body turned into a deep red, instead of the usual cool purple. _"Do you have any idea how lucky you are! If it wasn't for this net you would've died!"_

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He replied, quickly looking away and seeing his team running towards him. "Looks like the others are coming… Oh, shoot the others are coming!" His voice took on a panicked tone, and he returned his gaze to Serah. "How am I gonna explain you to them!?"

 _"You don't have to, they can only see me if you want them to."_ She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. _"And stop yelling, you can communicate with me telepathically like I'm doing right now."_ She quickly slugged him in the shoulder and glared at him intensely. _"This discussion isn't over, we'll continue this when you get back from your trip okay!"_

"I'll be looking forward to it." He scoffed sarcastically, causing the spirit to puff out her cheeks in anger. Without a word, she moved forward and touched his chest, disappearing in a small ball of light.

Alisa was the first to reach him, jumping up she deftly caught the bottom of the net in her hand and pulled it down the ground where she pinned it with her foot. "You okay?" She asked him with a concerned look on her face, producing a knife from the bag on her thigh. "No broken bones or anything?"

He nodded as she cut him loose. "I'm a bit bruised, but I'll survive thanks to you and the others." He slowly got to his feet and smiled brightly at her. "Nice shot, by the way, I'll pay you back when we're done with the trip."

"As great as that sounds, if you want to thank anyone then it should be Laura." She stepped to the side and pointed behind her, grinning brightly at his praise. "She was the one who noticed you falling, I just took the shot."

Raishun patted his teammate on the shoulder and walked forward to meet Laura. He smiled and opened his mouth to speak, but the smile faded when she stopped a few meters away from him. Her hands were clenched into fists at her side, and she faced the concrete ground with her long white hair obscuring her face.

"Uhh, Laura. Is something wrong?" He asked in a worried tone, slowly walking closer. For a moment he thought he saw a tear fall down her cheek, causing him to stop in his tracks. "Laura are you-"

"Shut up, just shut up!" She yelled, closing the distance between them in an instant and punching him in the chest repeatedly. "You're an idiot you know! What made you think it was a good idea to jump from our room, with the amount of aura you have the fall would kill you!" Her fist crashed into his solar plexus, and he doubled over in pain. "Think before you act next time."

Pebbles around them began to shakily float into the air as she spoke, but they quickly fell back to the ground when Gil walked up to her and gently grasped her wrist, shaking his head. Scoffing, she turned and stormed off towards the bullhead with Alisa following not far behind her.

"L-Laura wait!" He choked out, only to be ignored as the two girls walked into the airship. Taking a minute to regain his breath, he tried to stand but instead fell onto one knee. "Was it something I said?"

"I don't think it was something you said." Gil walked up to him, offering a hand up with a small smile on his face. "She laid into you quite a bit back there."

"Thanks," Raishun said gratefully as Gil helped him to his feet. "Yeah, but I don't get why she got so worked up. I've got you guys watching my back after all."

"Definitely, but don't do any more stupid shit like that stunt back there," Gil said, slugging him in the shoulder. "Now let's get moving before she gets mad at you for being late."

"Good point, I think I've had enough near-death experiences for one day." He quipped and followed his teammate to the interior of the bullhead.

The inside of the bullhead was dark, and it took his eyes a minute to adjust. It resembled a grey metal box, a door on the far wall that presumably led to the cockpit. A row of four stiff looking seats lined both sides of the interior, with Laura and Alisa sitting on the right. The left was occupied by a group of four girls, who were led by a familiar face.

"Oh hey, it's you!" Ruby said happily from her seat. She was dressed in a black top and skirt, both of which had a red lining. The red cape she had worn on her school uniform was present once again, wrapped warmly around her neck. "It's so good to see you!"

"Long time no see!" He said jovially, taking a seat beside Gil who had already strapped himself in. "I hope you got your leader problem sorted."

"Yup, we got everything sorted out, and now we're besties!" She said excitedly in a high pitched voice, wrapping her arms around the white haired girl on her left.

"Hey, get off me this instant Ruby!" She protested, trying to free herself from the energetic girl's grasp.

"But Weiss-!" Ruby complained, still holding onto her. "This morning when I asked if we were besties you said yes!"

"That's because I was half asleep you dolt!" Weiss snapped, succeeding in prying her off after a monumental effort. "Now, stop behaving like a child in front of the new team! You're going to embarrass us!"

"Oh, sorry!" She smoothed out her skirt and cleared her throat, in an attempt to act professionally. "Did you get your problems sorted out?" She asked him, as the yellow-haired girl on her right patted her on the head.

He thought about the events that had transpired over the past couple of weeks and hunched over in his seat. "Y-... Yeah, everything's just great." He lied, rising to his feet impatiently. "When's this thing going to start moving anyways-"

Suddenly, the door to the bullhead closed behind Raishun and it quickly began to ascend. He fell to the ground and grunted in pain. "I just had to open my big mouth didn't I." He muttered under his breath, his cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment as he scrambled back into his chair.

As the large group of bullheads flew over the land of Remnant on their journey to deliver the students to the Forever Fall, teams RWBY and RGLA decided to break the awkward tension and silence between them.

Weiss was the first of the eight to act, letting a small sigh and clearing her throat. "Well, introductions seem to be in order." She said proudly, placing a hand on her chest in a dignified manner. "I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation." She stated matter of factly. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance." She looked up at Laura expectantly, as if to signal that she was to go next.

Laura got her drift and sat up straight in an attempt to look taller. "I am Laura Izuna, h-..." She paused for a moment and quickly regained her composure. "Leader of team RGLA. I hope we can work together well."

Beside her, Gil seemed to relax a little. "Name's Gilgamesh Izuna, but you can all call me Gil. I hope you treat my younger cousin and I well." He said patting Laura on the head, though she quickly pushed him away.

"Hold up, your named Gilgamesh?" Raishun butt in, staring at the older hunter in surprise.

"Yeah my name's Gilgamesh, but if you call me that I'll put you in the infirmary longer than Eric did." He threatened in a calm voice, adjusting his hat.

"I'll keep that in mind." he looked at the team in front of him. "My names Raishun, I'm the-"

"He's the idiot of the team, as well as the weakest." Laura cut in, "If you could all look after him in the field that would be much appreciated."

"Ouch, I have feelings too you know." He said dejectedly, "As I was saying, I'm the Ranger of the group." He drew his Imperial Arm and set it on his lap. "This is Caligula."

As soon as it was drawn, Ruby's eyes lit up. She began to eye the blade with fascination. "Woah! It's an Imperial Arm!" She gripped the yellow girl's arm and shook it in excitement "I've never seen one up close, even Uncle Qrow doesn't have one!"

Raishun laughed, "You wanna hold it?" He asked her, quickly reaching out to Serah inside his mind. _"Serah I swear to God if you kill her I'm divorcing you."_

 _"I have standards you know, I only kill bad people."_ Serah pouted, a sudden chill running down his spine. _" And for the record, I'd leave you first."_

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, shifting in her seat excitedly.

He nodded, and her eyes shone in excitement as she tentatively reached a hand out grasping the hilt. Once it was in her hands, she began fawning over the weapon. "It's so much lighter than I thought it'd be!" Her eyes sparkled, and a wide smile was plastered on her face as she began to praise every single aspect of the weapon in her hands.

He couldn't help but laugh, she reminded him of a kid in the toy aisle of a store. "Yeah that surprised me too, I thought it would be heavier when I first saw it."

 _"Are you calling me fat?"_ Serah growled in an offended tone.

 _"No, I was saying how light the blade is. And wait aren't you a spirit, why do you care how heavy the weapon is?"_ He asked curiously.

 _"My spirit is tied to the weapon, so it serves as sort of a second body for us while we wait to resonate with a Ranger. So saying it's heavy is like saying I'm heavy."_ She huffed, disappearing into the sea of his soul, and leaving him with a small headache.

Ruby decided to give the broadsword a practice swing, and almost lopping off Raishun's head as it raced past his head and clanged against the metal floor. "Whoops, sorry!" She laughed nervously, returning the weapon to its Ranger. "Imperial Arms are so cool, Yang can I get one?" She cheered, looking at the yellow-haired girl.

Yang wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder to keep her from bouncing off the walls. "Aw, don't worry sis. You'll find one eventually." She looked at the team across from her and set her gaze on Gil. "Hey there pretty boy, you want to go get a drink sometime." She winked at him "I know a good club we could hit."

Gil's cheeks turned a faint shade of red, and he looked away to stare at the wall behind her intently. "I'll pass this time." He said bluntly, earning himself a jab in the ribs from Laura.

"Yang behave yourself!" Ruby complained, "Don't scare them off after we just met them."

Yang opened her mouth to speak, but the speaker above them crackled to life. "We'll be arriving at our destination shortly, please stay in your seats until we're ready to drop." The pilot ordered, his voice slightly distorted by static.

"Good luck out there kids!" The pilot said over the intercom, as the two teams jumped onto the ground below, rolling as they landed to disperse the impact. Other students landed not far from them and began to crowd around in a circle so they could hear what their task would be. Above them, their transport flew away but would return once it was time to leave.

"Today, you will all be collecting sap from the trees in this forest. Be aware that while this location is considered safe, there have recently been reports of Grimm in the area." She explained, causing the class to shift nervously. "Should you encounter said Grimm, it's recommended you eliminate it, lest someone less fortunate run into it later on." She tapped her wand against her clipboard. "That will be all, please return here once you have finished so we can return home."

The students began to spread out, using their weapons to dig holes into the trees and holding jars underneath to collect the sap.

"Man this blows," Gil muttered under his breath, using his hand axe to tear a large gash into a tree. He removed his axe and retrieved a jar from his bag, setting it underneath the cut to catch the falling sap. It didn't more than a few minutes of him waiting around impatiently for it to fill to the brim.

"Hey," A black haired girl appeared behind him. She had on a black and white outfit, with her top leaving her stomach exposed. Her yellow eyes studied him closely as if she was trying to figure something out.

"Ah!" Gil jumped, dropping the jar which shattered on the ground. "Watch it! Don't sneak up on people like that alright!" He said gruffly, sheathing his hand axe as he turned to face her. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Blake, I was on the bullhead with all of you but didn't get a chance to introduce myself." She explained, looking him dead in the eye. "And you don't like Raishun do you?" She noted bluntly. "You act all friendly around him, yet when you two were talking in the bullhead you looked as if talking to him physically hurt you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gil snapped, walking over to another tree and repeating the process he had done with the first tree. "Last time I checked Raishun and I were close."

"I'm good at spotting liars you know, and right now you're the biggest lier in sight." She stated, examining his expression closely. "I wonder if it's because of his Imperial Arm?"

Gil flinched, and he shot her a dark look. His hand reached for the sword at his side, but he quickly took a deep breath and moved the hand into his pocket instead. "Why would I hate him for having an Imperial Arm? If anything it makes him useful on the battlefield."

"You're a pretty good liar you know that." She complimented, "But I think it's pretty one-sided to hate Rangers because of one bad event." She turned and walked away. "Not that you're any better than them of course." She said in a barely audible whisper once she was out of earshot.

While the others were fraternizing with each other and collecting their sap with ease, Raishun wandered deeper into the forest where he could be alone. He tried to slice open the trees, but each time his blade would get stuck partway without reaching the precious sap.

"Dammit!" He hissed, feeling anger rising inside of him. "Serah can't you just possess me and get this over with?"

 _"Sorry, no can do."_ Serah said, _"The anger you're feeling isn't even enough for me to possess you for even a minute."_

Frowning, he tried to feel different emotions, sadness, anger, frustration… but none of them seemed to do the trick. "Why the hell won't it work?!" he growled, gritting his teeth from the effort.

 _"I just told you why! I need fuel to transform and right now the emotions you're producing aren't enough."_ Serah explained, a hint of annoyance seeping into her voice.

"Well, what's it gonna take!?" He yelled, stabbing his sword hilt-deep into the tree in a fit of rage. "Because I'm starting to feel pretty frustrated right now!" He tried to pull it out but it was stuck fast, causing the young ranger to groan in frustration. "Great, now Caligula's stuck, this day keeps getting better and better doesn't it."

"Uh… Who ya talking to?" Yang asked him as she appeared from the forest with a worried look on her face and her hands resting on her hips,"You haven't lost it have ya?"

Surprised, he turned to face her. "O-oh, hey Yang! I'm fine, I just… uh… talking to myself is all!" He laughed nervously. "I was trying to get some sap from the trees, It's a lot harder than it looks!"

"Right… so if it's so hard, why is your sword stuck all the way through that tree?" She raised an eyebrow and walked over beside him.

"I had to slam my whole body against it just to get it through." He lied, rubbing his right shoulder and putting on a wounded expression. "I mainly used my shoulder so it hurts a whole bunch right now."

"Here I'll help you then." with a small smile on her face, she grasped the hilt of the blade and pulled it from the tree effortlessly. "Here." She held the blade out to its owner.

He took the blade from her, and she placed her hands over his. Together, they pushed the blade into a nearby tree, creating a gush of sap that he quickly collected.

"Thanks a ton!" He said cheerfully withdrawing the blade and sheathing it. Rising to his feet, he placed the jar he filled up in his bag. "You made it look so easy!"

"That's because it was, these trees are pretty flimsy, so I can even punch through them if I wanted." She grinned, playfully nudging his arm. "Ohhh, I see what you did there you sly dog. You were just pretending to be weak so I would hold your hand weren't you."

"W-what!? No!" He recoiled, his face flushed a light shade of red. "I-i mean I'm not weak but I would never-" He paused and let out a sigh, regaining his composure. "You're teasing me aren't you."

"Right on the money!" She smirked and opened her mouth to tease him some more, but quickly stopped. She began to cautiously look around with a serious look on her face, as the gauntlets on her wrists lowered over her fists.

A worried look quickly dawned on Raishun's face, and he began to worry that maybe he had crossed a line. "Is something wrong?"

"Quiet," Yang said urgently, covering his mouth with her gloved hand and forcing them both onto one knee. The two sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, when suddenly a bush near their left began to shake. She quickly unhandled him, and rose to her feet just in time to uppercut a Beowulf that had leapt at them. A loud metallic clang echoed throughout the forest as the Grimm fell to the ground with a large hole in its head.

Raishun darted backward and drew Caligula to defend himself. Suddenly, the gem in its blade began to glow, and Serah began to float behind him much to his surprise. "What the hell are you doing here, I'm kind of in the middle of a fight." He demanded, his eyes darting around the surrounding foliage as Yang gave him a concerned look due to his outburst.

 _"I'm obviously here to help you smartass, and you don't need to yell because we can speak telepathically remember."_ She scolded, quickly moving to his side, _"But back to the fight, we've got several Grimm moving around out there, so stick close to Yang so you don't get yourself killed!"_

"Understood!" Following her orders, he moved closer to Yang so the two were back to back. "What's our plan?" He asked nervously, as several Beowulf began to emerge through the bushes, their fangs glistening in the midday sun.

"We're gonna make a break for the others," She ordered in an easygoing tone, pulling back the arm she'd hit the Beowulf with to load another shell into the chamber. "I'll take the lead and wipe them out, you just pick off any that get past me 'kay?"

"Got it!" He responded, preparing to run.

"On three," Yang said excitedly. "One… Two… Three!"

The two of them broke into a dash. Yang completely decimated any Grimm that dared get in her way, her punches and kicks sent Grimm flying in every direction. This left him with nothing to fight as he followed close behind her. It didn't take long for the two of them to regroup with their respective teams, who were collecting sap peacefully.

"Laura! We've got trouble!" Raishun yelled, startling her and making her drop a jar full of sap which shattered on the ground.

"What are you talking about!" She demanded angrily, though it quickly faded as she saw the small army of Grimm nipping at their heels. "We've got Grimm incoming!" She yelled, drawing the rest of their group together.

The two teams formed a circle, as the number of Grimm surrounding them grew larger and larger. Alisa took the opportunity to dash into the center of the circle and kneel on the ground. Drawing her rifle, she deftly removed the scope and loaded a bullet. She took aim and fired, sending a bullet through the head of a Beowulf that wandered to close to the group. "What's the plan Laura?" She asked calmly, loading another bullet into the chamber of her gun.

"We'll all work together to route the enemy, the second we see an opening we take it and make our escape." She said and slammed the hilts of her dual blades together, causing them to extended and form a long twinblade. "Other than that, just protect Raishun. Sound good Ruby?"

"Yeah… let's do that thing, uh… What she said!" Ruby cheered, moving back into the center with Alisa and switching her large red scythe into a sniper rifle.

The two teams ran forward to meet the Grimm that surrounded them head-on. Except for Raishun, who was stopped when Laura held out an arm to stop him. "The best thing you can do right now is stay out of the fighting." She stated, looking him dead in the eye. "Just hold back with Alisa and Ruby, they'll keep you safe!"

"What! But I can fight! You saw me at the entrance exams, I killed that weird Grimm!" He protested, forcing her arm down and running towards the others. He raised his sword above his head and brought it down on one of the Beowulf with a loud war cry. But the blade just bounced off its armored head and slipped from his hands out of reach. It growled and moved to attack him, but he was saved when Laura dashed forward and impaled it through the chest on one of the ends of her twin blades.

"Look, I know you've been training hard." She kicked his blade over to him and removed her twin blade from the Grimm's chest. "But we've been training for this our entire lives, and we just have more experience than you." She gestured to their comrades in front of them. "Take one look at them fighting and you'll see what I mean."

He looked reluctantly and saw the two teams making quick work of the Grimm in their path. Blake vaulted off Gil's back, sending herself flying into the air where she shot forward and sliced through at least a dozen Grimm in a spinning motion. Weiss kept encasing her enemies in ice, leaving them vulnerable to Yang who would shatter them with her punches. The constant crack of rifles filled the air thanks to Ruby and Alisa, who provided the two pairs of fighters with supporting fire, picking off any Grimm that tried to sneak up on them.

"Duck!" Ruby said to Alisa, who hit the ground just in time to avoid a Grimm pouncing on her. The unfortunate beast met its end when Ruby switched her gun back into a scythe, cleaving the Grimm in two.

"They clearly have training that you don't, so as your leader I'm ordering you to stay out of the fight… please." She asked, giving him a hopeful look.

"...Alright." He relented, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Just make sure to kill a couple of them for me alright!" He cheered, giving her a thumbs up.

"Thank you Raishun." She smiled softly and darted off to join the others in their fight.

The moment she left the smile melted from his face, and a dark expression took over his face. "I'd just slow them down huh…" He bit his lip in frustration and noticed a Beowulf out of the corner of his eye. This one seemed different from the others, the red markings on its body glowed faintly, and it was bigger than the others in the crowd. "I'll show them what I can do!" He growled, picking Caligula up off the ground and charging at what he assumed was the enemies leader.

It quickly noticed him and began to retreat deeper into the forest away from the fighting. "Get back here!" Raishun roared, chasing it down into a large clearing.

Orange leaves flew lazily through the air, illuminated by the midday sun as the two stood several meters away from each other. Trees surrounded the clearing, forming a sort of makeshift arena for them to fight.

Raishun took the first move, charging forwards holding his blade at waist level, he attempted to stab it through the chest and end the fight in one blow. He thrust the blade forward, and the beast quickly dodged to the side, and ran its claws down his back, piercing his leather armor and leaving a deep gash in his back. Grunting in pain, he spun around, swinging his blade in a wide arc to catch it on its side. But again the Grimm dodged, and landed another strike, this time creating a small cut on his side.

 _"He's too fast!"_ Serah cried, quickly noticing the red splotches on his shirt growing in size. _"We have to fall back, if we reach the others they can give us a hand!"_

"Don't worry… I've got this in the bag!" He charged it again, but this time with his semblance activated. With the wing on his back, he was as fast as the Beowulf. They met in a clash of claws and steel, the Grimm had the upper hand at first, forcing Raishun backward. But he pushed himself to overpower it, disengaging and stabbing his blade into its back.

It howled in anger, causing the ranger to grin widely. "See, I told you I got this!" he drove the blade deeper, while he turned to face Serah with a gloating look. "I just needed a bit of time is all!"

 _"Get back!"_ She yelled, trying to pull him back by his leather chest plate. _"The wound's not deep enough!"_

"What?" He said in confusion when the Grimm lunged forward and bit down on his leg. He cried out in pain, as it shook him along the ground from side to side, then threw him to the edge of the field.

With substantial effort, he staggered to his feet. "Dammit!" he cursed under his breath and ran to rejoin the battle. Unfortunately, the damage was already done, even with his semblance he was no longer able to keep up with the Grimm. He tried to strike it, but over and over again, his attack was either deflected or dodged. Each attempt earned him a new cut or bruise until he was so hurt that he couldn't stand any longer, falling to one knee.

 _"Laura was right, you're not strong enough to do this yet!"_ Serah yelled in frustration, _"Just run away, there's no point in dying here!"_

"I told you I've got this!" He growled, holding onto his sword to shakily rise to his feet. "But even though I say that, everyone always says that I'm too weak." The wing on his back grew larger and more unstable, some of the energy flowing off to strike the ground and trees. Anger boiled inside of him, and he pointed his blade at his opponent defiantly. "SO WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST HAVE SOME DAMN FAITH IN ME FOR ONCE!" He roared, running forward one more time.

 _"There we go, now that's an emotion that'll work."_ Serah smiled, tapping him on the chest.

The anger inside of him quickly faded, leaving behind a sort of empty void inside of him. _"What did you do to me."_ He asked calmly, holding the spot she had touched him, "Did you eat my emotions?"

 _"It was more of a snack really, but it should be enough to get the job done."_ She grinned, walking in front of him and turning to face the Grimm before them. _"Just sit back, and let me get us out of this!"_

Serah began to walk to the side, slowly circling the Grimm in front of her. Behind of her, Raishun mimicked her movements exactly. _"Pretty neat huh?"_ Serah smiled cockily. Doing a small spin just to watch him mimic her.

The Grimm howled in a mix of pain and anger, rearing up on its hind legs and letting out a loud roar to try and intimidate them. It ran forward and swung at them with its claws. Serah controlled Raishun's body to deflect the attack and force it back, taking the opportunity to slam the pommel of the blade into its snout with a loud crack.

It flinched and took a step back, but Serah was unrelenting and slid forward along the ground. As she passed it, she spun in a circle with her blade outstretched and rose to her feet in one fluid motion. Behind her, the Beowulf fell to the ground, struggling to rise to its feet as its paws frantically scampered against the ground. The tendons in its legs having been cut.

 _"Sorry but that's not happening."_ She murmured softly, turning and stabbing the blade through its skull. It whimpered in pain and tried to move forward shakily. WIth a dark look on her face, she pulled the blade out and sidestepped swinging the sword upwards. The blade cut through cleanly, and it's head hit the ground with a loud thud, quickly followed by its body.

 _"Man it feels good to be back in business!"_ Serah purred, swinging Caligula in front of her elegantly and stabbing it into the floor. _"You're a little slower than I'm used too, we can fix that by training later!"_

Raishun suddenly fell to his knees behind her, as she relinquished control to him. "That was intense…" He choked out, his breathing coming out in short breaths as a sudden soreness began spreading throughout his body. "I'm just glad I finally got you to possess me."

She slowly floated over to him and patted his shoulder sympathetically, _"The anger you felt didn't give me enough power to fully take over, if it had I could've used my semblance. But it got us the win, and now that I've finally had something to eat after 15 years it should be easier for me to possess you."_ She yawned, and rubbed her eyes sleepily, "Fighting after being dormant for so long sure does take its toll. I'mma take a nap so you clean yourself up." She murmured with half-lidded eyes, placing her palm on his chest and slowly fading away.

Without a word he used Caligula to rise to his feet, then removed the blade from the ground and sheathed it. "Welp, I'm definitely gonna be sore tomorrow." He muttered, taking slow methodical steps towards where he had last seen his team.

He hadn't made it more than halfway when Eric dropped down from a tree, blocking his path with sickle in hand.

"How did you kill that Grimm?" He demanded, the sickle in his hand glowing as if a bright fire were burning inside the rose gold metal. "That thing was kicking your ass, and then suddenly you turned the tide to kill it."

"What can I say, I guess my training's paying off!" Raishun lied with a confident smirk, glaring at the man who put him in the infirmary. "It's kinda creepy that you were watching me fight the whole time, what were you gonna let it kill me too?"

"I would've intervened if things got too out of hand, though I will admit that it was fun to watch." He flicked his wrist and his sickle disappeared in a flash of embers, "But I don't think training would let you change your fighting style on the fly."

"Oh that… I just copied what I saw Laura do." He lied, "I figured my fighting style wasn't going to work against it."

Eric gave him a suspicious look, "Whatever… I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time. But I promise you I'm going to find out what the deal with you is." He sighed, walking past the confused Ranger and into the forest.

He glared at him as he walked past, and continued to limp towards where he had last seen his team. "Creepy bastard…" He muttered, continuing on his way.

When Raishun finally did regroup, he found them in a state of crisis. Laura was frantically searching around with the rest of her team, holding onto to a white strip of cloth, which turned out to be a piece of his torn shirt that had caught on a branch during his chase. Her eyes eventually landed on him, she said something to the others and quickly rushed to his side.

"Where did you go!" She asked, letting him lean against her so he could walk properly, "I told you to stay in the center with the girls, and you disappeared without a trace!" She yelled at him, her eyes burning with anger. "When we were done fighting, what do we find of you?! A piece of your shirt!"

The two began to walk back to the clearing had told them to return to, the rest of their group forming a protective circle around them. Blood dripped onto the ground from his wounds, dotting the ground behind them with small splotches of red.

"I just wanted to help." He shot back, "There was a large Grimm that looked like it was the leader, so I chased it into the forest and killed it!" he grinned triumphantly, as the trees began to thin around them. "So have some faith in me why don't ya."

"Have you seen yourself! Your leg is destroyed, and you're bleeding from more places than I can count!" She yelled, ignoring the blood that began to stain her trench coat.

They reached the clearing, and she quickly set him down on the ground softly while the others ran to get help. Raishun looked up and saw her saying something, but her voice was muffled and distant. All he could focus on was the bright sun beating down on him until suddenly all that he saw was darkness when he passed out from his wounds.


	8. Chapter 7: Calm Before The Storm

A week had passed since the first year students of Beacon had embarked on their excursion into the Forever Fall. Of all the students, a boy named Jaune Arc was the only other student to be attacked, though he had made it out of his encounter unharmed. Raishun, on the other hand, had to be quickly rushed to the infirmary, where got most of his wounds healed by Dr. Hazel after his fight with the Grimm. But because of his unusually low level of aura, they had only been able to fully heal the damage to his leg and some of his more serious injuries. It was because of this that he still had several cuts and bruises.

Raishun sat on his bed, painfully holding onto his arm while Laura dug through a first aid box beside him. She pulled out a roll of gauze and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, placing the two items in her lap. Unscrewing the top, she carefully pressed a strip of the cloth to the top of the bottle and flipped it over, drenching the gauze without spilling a drop.

"Hold still, this may hurt a bit." She moved his hand, revealing a line of stitches that marked the spot where he had been hurt by the Beowulf in the Forever Fall. Tearing off the strip of gauze, she pressed it to his arm and began to wrap it.

"Ngh… While I appreciate you doing this, is it really necessary?" He asked through clenched teeth, "Dr. Hazel said I was fine, and the wounds all stitched up anyways."

"You were injured fighting a Beowulf, who knows what sort of germs its claws can carry. It's better to be safe than sorry." She applied the last of the gauze, and gently placed her hand on it. "Honestly, I didn't think that you would be stupid enough to run from the group to fight on your own." She looked at him, a look of concern etched on her face. "What would we do if you had died, you're not as strong as the rest of us you know."

"Ouch, way to be blunt. You make it sound like I'm holding you guys back." He sighed, flopping back onto his bed.

She quickly let go of his arm, cringing as she realized her mistake, "No, I didn't mean it like that!" She began putting away the materials they'd used, closing the lid with a click. "I just meant-"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I know what you mean." He laughed, "I'll have you know I've been training hard, so you guys won't have to babysit me anymore."

Laura sighed in relief and stuck a hand in her blazer pocket. "I know, so I got you this." She pulled out a grey scroll and handed it to him. "Gil noticed that you didn't have one, so I had one delivered."

He held the scroll in his hands, running a thumb over the cool metal and turning it on. The two pieces split open, revealing a light blue holographic screen. "I… I don't know what to say."

"A thank you would be nice." She smiled softly, holding her hands in her lap. "Oh, I've taken the liberty of putting all our numbers in, so if you ever need help don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks a ton, Laura!" he grinned, throwing an arm around her. "You're the best you know!"

Laura yelped and quickly stood to her feet, her cheeks turning a faint shade of red. "Why you…" She huffed, turning on her heel and making for the door. "We have a class with in half an hour, I'll see you there." She blurted, before sprinting out the door and tearing through the halls.

Raishun stared blankly at the open door, "What the hell was that about?" he muttered, before quickly realizing the gravity of the situation. His face began to heat up, and he hid his face in his hands. "Whyyyyyyy did I do that!"

Serah appeared beside the young hunter, patting him on the back softly. " _Aww, what's the matter tiger? You're looking a little red there."_ She giggled.

"Shut up…" He murmured, doing his best to regain his composure. Reaching to the side, he grabbed the first aid kit and slid it under his bed. "... But thanks for helping me train at your place, especially during this past week." Clenching a fist, he stared at the ground intently, "I've gotten really good at using my semblance now thanks to you."

" _It was nothing, though if you really want you can thank me with a big 'ol kiss!"_ She floated in front of him with her lips puckered.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass." He looked away, holding up a hand to block her while trying to ignore the annoying spirit.

" _You're no fun."_ Serah pouted, pounding her fists against his arm while she floated closer to his ear and whispered, " _I bet you wouldn't mind giving Laura a smooch though."_

The heat in his cheeks grew, and he jumped to his feet. "I have to go or I'll be late!" Reaching into the drawer by his bed, he grabbed his uniform and rushed to get changed, thankful for an excuse to abandon the conversation.

"Mr. Alenko?... !" Ms. Goodwitch yelled but received no response from the napping hunter. "I don't get paid enough for this…" She muttered, using her wand to levitate a small pebble off the arena floor, and send it towards Raishun. Her aim was true, and the pebble ended up hitting him in between his eyes.

"ARGH! What the-!" Raishun snapped awake and quickly began looking at his classmates suspiciously. "To whoever the hell threw that I'll kick your ass!"

"I believe I was the one who through that ," She stated calmly, the wand in her hand began to tap loudly against her clipboard in irritation.

"O-oh, …" He flinched, quickly sitting up straight and wiping the sleep from his eyes. "I was just… er…. Thinking really hard is all!" he laughed, trying to diffuse the tension in the room.

"Please, spare me from your excuses." She fixed her glasses, giving the young hunter a hard stare. "Would you be so kind as to provide the class with a demonstration of your Semblance?"

"Y-yes of course!" turning, he grinned to his team, doing his best to avoid Laura's gaze. "See I got off scot-free!" he whispered, before jumping off the balcony and into the arena.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Cardin sitting with his team in the stands. "So, what will I be using my Semblance on?" He asked her curiously, shooting Cardin a smug grin. "Please say Cardin."

"Watch yourself Alenko!" Cardin yelled from the stands, tapping his mace against he leg in an attempt to be menacing. "Don't forget about our agreement!"

" , please refrain from causing any more outbursts the duration of our lesson. Otherwise, you'll have detention for a week!" She scolded in a cold tone, her sharp words caused him to flinch.

Hearing Raishun snicker, she quickly turned on her heel to face him, "As for you , It seems that you're confident about your abilities if you have time to fool around." Her eyes narrowed, and she flicked her wand at a gate at the far end of the arena.

The sound of metal scraping against the ground, along with the growls of Grimm began to emanate from the dark corner. "I believe you are ready to face one of our more dangerous creatures," Glynda stated, seemingly satisfied with her choice.

Raishun turned towards the gate and stabbed his sword into the ground. "Alright! Bring it on!" he cheered confidently.

"Please refrain from damaging the arena anymore ." She chastised, pinching her brow in frustration. "It is quite expensive to maintain."

Before he could respond, she flicked her wand, and the gate at the far end began to rise slowly. Two glowing red eyes shone through the darkness, glowing brighter as the large form of an Ursa stomped out from the cage. Its body was covered in thick white armor, that was spread apart into plates. Its spine, in particular, had several tall white spikes that sent a shiver down the young hunter's spine.

With a nervous grin, he gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled it from the ground, activating his semblance as it was freed. The wing on his back came to life, cleanly appearing on his back with a sound like a blade being drawn. He pointed the tip of his Imperial Arm at its head and took a deep breath, then dashed forward. The speed boost from his semblance allowed him to quickly close the vast distance between them. He swung his blade at its neck, cutting through the armor plate that protected it like butter and sinking his blade half an inch deep into its neck.

The wound didn't seem to faze the large Grimm, who shook him off and retaliated by swinging one of its mighty claws at him, but he was able to jump back just in time to avoid it. Growling, it closed its jaws on his blade, swinging its head from side to side, dragging the Ranger closer in an attempt to disarm him.

" _Ew, ew, ew, ew!"_ Sarah cried in a panicky tone, " _Get it off, get it off! This is so gross!"_

" _I'm trying! This thing's not letting go!"_ He managed to pull his sword free, and sliced one its eyes, causing it to roar in pain and giving him the opportunity to put some distance between them. Holding up his blade, he cringed when he saw drool sliding down the blade. " _Oof, you're not in good shape right now."_

" _THAT DOES IT!"_ Serah cried, appearing in front of him on the verge of tears. " _I'm taking over!"_ She slapped his chest and he froze in place while she moved in front of him.

"Mr. Alenko, are you alright?" Goodwitch asked with a hint of concern, noticing that he had frozen in place while staring at his blade.

"Perfectly fine, just getting ready to kill a bitch." Raishun and Serah said in unison, giving the teacher a closed-eyed smile. "Now where were we…" Serah jumped through the air and drove her blade through its side, making sure she was on its blind side.

It roared in pain but could do nothing as she began to tear it to shreds. Cutting pieces of flesh from its body, armor and all in a blind fit of rage. Blood splattered the ground around them, some of it spraying onto Raishun's cheek.

" _Serah that's enough! Just finish the poor thing already!"_ He said, beginning to pity the poor creature, which was starting to writhe on the ground. " _You're gonna make me look bad."_

"Fine…" She took a step back, frowning and slashing its face twice, sending cracks throughout its mask. She stepped on its neck to hold it down and drove her sword through the same eye Raishun had cut out earlier, effectively killing it.

It let out one last growl of pain and stopped moving. Serah gave her blade a small twirl and bowed deeply, stretching her right arm out to her side. As if on command, the wing on his back quickly disappeared in a small flash of bright light that released small balls of yellow light that drifted towards the crowd.

" _Show off."_ Raishun smiled, as control returned to him, and the crowd began to clap.

"Watch out! Alisa cried, as the Ursa behind him rose to its feet and gave one last futile charge.

Cursing under his breath, he tried to roll past its charge but it caught his arm in its jaws and dragged him along the ground as it began to run around the arena. He cried out in pain and drove his blade through its heart.

It whimpered, slowing to a halt. Raishun barely had enough time to free his arm and move out of the way before it gave its last breath and collapsed to the ground, fading away.

"Very sloppy Mr. Alenko, you prioritized showing off over being effective." Goodwitch chided, as the Grimm finished fading away. "Had it not been for alerting you to the danger you were in, your injuries may have been more severe." Her eyes narrowed, and she turned to face the stands. "I must admit, I didn't expect your style of fighting to be so brutal."

"Yeah… Sorry I don't know what came over me." He lied with a small smile, rising to his feet and inspecting the damage to his arm. The smile dropped from his face when he saw that his armlet on his wrist had taken the brunt of the damage. The metal had been rent in two, and it was hard to distinguish where the black center line ended and the red outer shell began. Pieces of it had chipped off, and there were several scratches and holes from where the Ursas teeth had dug in. He clutched it for a minute, then tore it off his arm for the first time in years, sliding the remains into his pocket.

But he hadn't come out unscathed, his wrist was torn up. Several scratches and cuts lined it from where either the Ursas teeth or the metal of his bracelet rubbed against his skin. "Can I at least get this looked at?" He sighed, holding up his hand for all to see, blood dripping onto the floor from his wound.

Alisa's quickly shot up, surprising everyone around her. "I can heal him!" She said excitedly, forming a bullet in her hand that radiated a green light and pulling a small pistol from a holster on her thigh. She loaded the bullet, cocked the gun, and pointed the firearm at his head. "Don't move alright, I've been waiting for an excuse to try this out." She blurted, then quickly smiled as she lined up the shot. "Don't worry, it'll only hurt a bit… I think."

"Woah, how about we don't shoot me!" He backed up slowly, holding his hands out in front of him as a sign of surrender, "How about we just slow down for a minute and talk this out."

"Nah." She smiled innocently and pulled the trigger. Raishuns head whipped back, and he fell to the floor unmoving. Everyone around her quickly backed away, panic filling the room due to the act of friendly fire she had committed.

" !" Glynda yelled, pointing her wand at the Huntress. "Put the firearm down, otherwise I'll be forced to resort to-"

"OOOOOWWWWWW! WHAT THE HELL ALISA!" Raishun screamed, quickly sitting up and holding his forehead in his hands.

The class jumped in their seats, their classmate seemingly having just returned from the grave. Even Goodwitch seemed surprised, pointing her wand at him with a shocked expression on her face.

He rose to his feet and pointed at her accusingly. "I told you to calm down and you shot me!"

"You said you were hurt so I healed you." She said innocently, knocking her head with her fist and giving him a cute wink.

"I HURT MY ARM NOT MY FOREHEAD GENIUS!" He held up his arm to show her the wound he had received and was shocked to find he was fully healed. "What the…" He stared at his wrist in awe, slowly running his fingers over the freshly mended skin. "Alisa?"

"Yes?" She gave him a confused look as he jumped back to the stands and walked up to her.

"If you can heal people like this… Then why didn't you use it when I was dying in the Forever Fall!" He pinched her cheeks and gave them a harsh tug.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! It's because it works by overcharging your aura, and you don't have a lot of that to begin with so…" She trailed off, realizing her explanation had come off as an insult.

"What was that?" He closed his eyes and put on a fake smile, giving her cheeks another tug. "I could've sworn you just said something about my aura that nobody else knew!" He hissed, "Something that I was trying to keep a secret."

She managed to brush him off and looked away nervously. "Well, it's not that you don't have aura. The amount the bullet used would take a toll on even Gil or Eric, so…"

Goodwitch quickly but in, clearing her throat to end the discussion. "If we're done here… you may take a seat now Mr. Alenko." She looked to his left, staring at Gil who was staring at his two teammates squabble with a small smile on his face. " , would you care to provide the class with a demonstration?"

Gil flinched, "O-oh, I uh… I think I'll pass on this one…" He said quietly, trying to avoid the instructor's discerning gaze. "I'm not feeling well, so I don't think I would be able to fight at my full strength."

"Are you quite sure?" She flipped through her clipboard until she came upon a page and tapped her wand upon it, "You have a unique semblance, even for a hunter. I believe it would provide the class with a valuable experience."

The usually stoic and cool-headed hunter began to take on a panicked expression, and began to fidget with his tie, "F-fine…" He grumbled and moved to stand.

"I'd like to volunteer in his place!" Laura said, standing and blocking Gils path. "I believe my semblance would be a prime example to show Raishun how a real Hunter handles their battles."

"Ms. Izuna," Goodwitch gave her an appreciative look, "I assure you that there's nothing for him to be embarrassed about when it comes to his-"

"Please!" She said quickly, cutting her off and earning a grateful look from Gil. "I believe after what happened at the Forever Fall that Raishun needs to see an example of how a real hunter fights. Otherwise, he may end up being a liability to my team and I."

"You do bring up a valid argument…" She fixed her glasses and began to consider her proposal. "Very well then, please provide us with a proper demonstration then."

"Thank you," Gil whispered as she walked past, "I seriously owe you one."

"Of course," She replied, smiling at him kindly. But her expression quickly changed, taking on a serious gaze as she jumped down into the arena. "Let's get this show underway." She smiled, drawing her blades and spinning in an elegant circle that ended in a curtsey.

"Yes, lets." With a flick of her wand, the gate opened once more, this time a group of three Beowulf charged out from the darkness. They stopped twenty feet away from her, growling menacingly and baring their sharp teeth.

Laura seemed unfazed by their display, staring straight ahead with a determined look on her face. "You better be paying attention Raishun," She muttered under her breath. She stuck her palm out so it faced her opponents, "Heel!" She ordered, and a sudden pressure began to spread throughout the arena.

The three Beowulf suddenly crashed to the ground, each of them had their legs pinned underneath them. They scratched at the ground underneath them, trying desperately in vain to resist. The stands weren't spared either, with the students feeling the effects of her semblance as well. They had to use the railing or grip their seats to keep themselves from collapsing to the ground underneath the pressure.

Laura walked up to her opponents slowly and regally, with each step she took, they sunk lower and lower into the ground. The cement underneath them began to crack from the pressure, and one of them stopped struggling, succumbing to the pressure and beginning to fade away. It's heart crushed.

She reached her opponents and drove a blade through each of their skulls. They each let out a small whine of pain, then went limp. She removed her swords from their skulls, spinning through the air to remove any blood, and sheathed them at her sides.

"A stellar performance ," Goodwitch smiled, as the room burst into applause. "I assume that you are unharmed."

"Of course," Laura replied, "I hope I was able to-" The sound of the bell tolling cut her off, as students began to pack up their things and flow out of the class in a steady stream. She abandoned her previous train of thought and returned to her team to pack up her own things. She reached the end of their row when she overheard Cardin and his team murmuring something as they passed by Raishun, who nodded and glared at them as they passed.

"...When it looks like he's winning, jump in and hit him from behind." Cardin smirked, slapping his teammates on the back, "That'll teach him a lesson."

They left the classroom, leaving Laura with a dark look on her face. She faced her cousin, "Follow me," She said bluntly, "I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to."

Gil noticed her tone, and nodded, "Alright," He stood up, leaving his things in the room while moving to follow her, "Should I leave my gear or…"

"No, bring it along. We may need it if things don't go as planned." She looked over her cousin's shoulder to tell Raishun to stay put, but he had disappeared. She quickly walked to the door, checking the hallway for their missing teammate. All she could see was the large mass of students hurrying back from their classes.

"If you're looking for Raishun, he left shortly after you came back to the stands. And Alisa said she was going to nap in the library." Gil stood next to his cousin. When they stood side by side, the 5'3 girl looked shorter than she seemed when compared to him. He reached down and patted her head. "He's not a little kid you know, he can take care of himself."

She scowled, brushing his hand off quickly. "I'm the leader now, it's my job to make sure that my team is safe." She explained, "Now, shall we go deal with our business?"

Cardin and his team rounded walked through the hall leading to their dorm room, muttering amongst themselves on what do if Raishun proved to be more than they could handle. They were so deep in conversation, that they didn't have time to react when they rounded the corner and saw Gil standing in front of them.

"Hey." He said before slamming his fist into Cardin's chest, knocking him to the floor.

"Gah!" Cardin cried, clutching his chest in pain. "The hell's your problem!?" He roared in anger, quickly rising to his feet in preparation for a fight.

Gil glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest and slowly drumming his fingers on his forearm. "I'm not the one you should be asking that." He stepped the side, and Laura appeared from behind him.

The look on her face was dark, her eyes narrowed into thin slits with a large scowl on her face. "So, I overheard that you were planning to have a sparring match with one of my teammates later today." She placed a hand on her hip, staring at Cardin in disgust. "I hope you were planning on keeping things fair."

"W-what are you talking about?" He took a step back cautiously, a sneer spreading across his face. "And eavesdropping's not very ladylike you bi-"

Gil stepped forwards but stopped when Laura blocked his path with her arm. She shook her head, and he took a step back. "Mind what you say, my cousin can be quite… overprotective." She threatened.

Cardin grew confident, running a hand through his hair while checking his scroll for the time. "Why do you care what happens to him, haven't you heard the rumors?" He shoved his scroll into his blazer pocket, with a cocky grin.

"What rumors?" Gil spoke up, "It's no secret anymore that Laura's our team leader instead of Raishun."

"Oh, you don't know?" He pointed a finger at them, "They say the only reason you guys aren't as famous as team RWBY is because of that useless idiot! Your teammate even confirmed it, he barely has any aura!" He laughed, "In fact, they say you guys should've just let him die in the Forever Fall, then your time here would've been a ton easier than-"

Laura quickly unsheathed one of her blades, thrusting it towards his head. It glanced off his aura, but still managed to nick his cheek before it embedded itself in the wall behind him. "I could care less if you want to fight him, just do it on equal ground. But if you think that you can speak about my team like that, then I'll show you no mercy." She hissed, returning her blade to its sheath and turning on her heel. "Let's go Gilgamesh."

"You bitch! What makes you think you can order me around!" He drew his mace and swung it at the back of her head.

His attack didn't make it far, as Gil slammed his fist into his cheek, then sent another into his stomach. He finished him off by kicking him square in the chest, sending him flying against the wall.

"Gil… I had that under control." Laura stated professionally, "Let him go, we have some studying to do."

He nodded, shooting Cardin a venomous glare, "You got lucky this time." He growled, before walking quickly to catch up with his cousin. "And I thought I told you not to call me Gilgamesh." He murmured under his breath.

During all of this, Raishun was taking a break in the schools garden. He sat at the edge of the fountain, surrounded by flowers of every type of color that dotted the grass. The garden was separated into different areas by several cobblestone paths that led winded around the fountain. The evening sun was beginning to set, so the place was mostly deserted.

"Come on… please." He pleaded under his breath in vain, trying to reassemble the shattered pieces of his bracelet to no avail. A jet of water from the fountain splashed against his head, but he ignored it, clutching the pieces tightly. "Damnit…" He choked out, his breathing hitching in his throat as held the remains over his heart.

Laura walked into the garden and noticed Raishun hunched over, shaking. She took a deep breath to steady herself and walked over to him quietly. "Don't overreact, don't overreact." She thought, tapping his shoulder with a soft smile. "Is everything okay?"

"O-oh, hey Laura!" He cleared his throat and shoved the remains into his blazer pocket. "I'm fine!" He put on his best fake smile, "Do you need something?"

She looked him over and shook her head. "You're not fine, tell me what's wrong." She took a seat next to him, staring at the ground intently, "If it's because of my performance earlier, I assure you that I never meant to show you up."

"What? No, no. You had a great fight!" He blurted, startling the Huntress beside him. "I mean… It's nothing. I'm just a bit tired from Alisa's bullet is all." He laughed, clenching the fist in his pocket tighter.

She gave him an unconvinced look and looked him over once more. This time she noticed that he kept one hand in the pocket of his blazer. "No, it's not nothing!" She grabbed his wrist and wrenched it out of his pocket, revealing the shattered remains of his bracelet. "Is this…"

He gasped, and instinctively yanked his hand back, "You weren't supposed to…" He trailed off, letting out a sigh of defeat. "Yeah, it's my armlet… The Ursa did a number on it." He turned away, and dipped his feet in the water, staring at his reflection in the rippling water. "My parents gave it to me right before they left… and never came back."

"I see…" She replied softly, clenching her hands tightly in her lap. "Perhaps we could get it fixed? I know a skilled smith who may be able to-"

"I appreciate it, but it's alright." He sighed, turning the pieces over with his thumb. "Not even a master could repair this… its gone for good." He rose to his feet, and let the pieces drop into the water. "I've got somewhere to be tonight, so don't be surprised if I don't come back until after midnight."

"Wait." She grabbed his wrist, looking up at him with a serious expression. "I know where you're going… but why?" She stood next to him, gripping his wrist tightly. "Why would you go through so much trouble for some random girl you don't even know?"

"Well, it just seems like the right thing to do you know." He scratched his cheek, doing his best to avoid her gaze. "Plus I kinda just challenged him without thinking things through, and now I'm too deep to get out of it."

She quietly looked at him, then turned and took several steps back. "Shut up." She said, turning on her heel once she was several paces away from him. She drew both her blades and took an offensive stance. "If you believe you can fight Cardin and win, then come over here and prove it."

He stared at her in disbelief, then shook his head. "I don't want to fight you Laura-" He barely had time to duck, as she swung one of her blades at his head. "What the hell are you doing?" He cried while darting backward to put some distance between them.

"I'm testing you obviously." she sprinted forwards and swung both her blades at once. The sharp metal whistled through the air as it raced towards his neck. "If you can't win a fight against me, what makes you think you can hold your own against Cardin."

The attack forced him to draw Caligula in order to protect himself. "Calm down!" He growled, slowly forcing her backward and attacking her with a reckless flurry of strikes. "What the hell's your problem?"

"You managed to take down that weird Grimm at the entrance exams without breaking a sweat!" She hissed, easily repelling each of his attacks and landing several hits of her own, causing his Aura to flare up around his shoulder and chest area. "And that you won against that abnormal Beowulf in the Forever Fall too."

"Yeah, so what!?" He grimaced, feeling his Aura drain out of him quickly. Taking a step backward, he was forced on the defensive due to her relentless assault. "Is it so weird for me to win a fight!"

"The problem is that you always win fights that are all or nothing, but the moment you step into an arena you're powerless!" She was yelling at him now, and the strength behind her strikes seemed to double as a purple aura appeared over her weapons. "Do you know how worried it makes us? How do you think we felt when you ran off into the Forever Fall, then came back bloody and beaten!"

One of her strikes connected with his shoulder, his aura flashed yellow, then disappeared. Her sword cut into his shoulder, and he fell to his knees in pain. She kicked him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"I was only trying to show you guys that I could-" He was quickly silenced when she planted her weapon at his neck and disarmed him with a sharp kick to his wrist.

"Shut up! Can you even hear yourself!" She yelled, "It's like all you care about is yourself!" She choked out, her blade shaking underneath his chin. "I thought you died… we all did."

"Laura…" He said quietly, staring at her wide-eyed. "I didn't mean-"

"Don't fight him," She withdrew her blade from his neck and sheathed her weapons. "I just don't want you to get hurt…" She looked at him with a tear rolling down her cheek. "Just stop…" She deftly turned on her heel and ran off, leaving him sitting alone wounded.

Laura slowly walked up to her dorm, holding the blade she'd cut Raishun with up to her face. Her reflection in the metal was slightly obscured by his blood. "What have I done…" She muttered, pressing the cool hilt to her forehead and losing herself in thought.

The sound of music coming from her dorm room brought her back to reality, and she let out a small sigh. "Looks like he's back at it again…"

She opened the door, and the music abruptly stopped. She trudged towards her bed, and out of the corner of her eye saw Gil sitting at his desk, his hand covering the screen of his scroll. Shedding her weapons at the foot of her bed, she promptly collapsed on her bed with a loud groan of frustration.

"Oof, that was a loud one," Gil spoke up from his desk, his cheeks tinged a light red from embarrassment. He moved, and took a seat at the foot of her bed, "You ah… didn't hear anything did you?"

"No," She lied promptly, wrapping herself in her blanket and burying her face in her pillow. "Why?"

"No reason." He blurted, staring at her sympathetically, "So what did you do to Raishun this time?"

"I didn't want him to fight Cardin, so I tried to get him to understand but took it too far." She replied with a muffled voice, burying her head further into the pillow.

"It's okay, at least you got your message across." He patted her on the shoulder softly, "Besides, I'm sure he'll be fine. You verbally abuse him practically everyday anyways."

"I stabbed him in the shoulder with Reclaimer Dawn…" She stated, blindly pointing to the blades resting at the sides of her bed, "And I shattered his aura so it won't recover until tomorrow."

"Okay… that's pretty bad." He reached up, running a hand through his messy hair, "I'm sure he's taken worse hits before! Like when he fought Eric, or back in the Forever Fall, so what you did was probably nothing to him."

"I just don't want him to get hurt." She said, turning her head to look out the window, "I know it's stupid to want that, we are hunters after all… but all he does is try to prove himself over and over again… even though he doesn't have to." She clenched her fists around the pillow, "It's like he's trying to be the hero all the time when he doesn't have the strength to."

The two sat in silence until Alisa barged through the door carrying her scroll in hand. "You're gonna want to see this!" She walked over to the TV and began the process of connecting her scroll to the screen.

Gil stood, walking over to the screen, "I swear if this is another one of those prank videos…"

"No, it's not one of those!" She tapped on her scroll some more, and the TV came alive, broadcasting the image of the school's arena. Night had fallen, so it was hard to make anything out.

"What's going on?" Laura joined her teammates, staring at the screen in nervous anticipation.

The lights in the center of the arena came on, revealing one of the members of Team CRDL. He had long dark blue hair that was neatly combed back. His silver armor gleamed in the light as he stood facing the camera. "Good Evening Beacon! Sky Lark here, I'll be narrating the fight for all of you viewers!"

He gestured to his left, and the lights slowly began to turn on in the direction he was pointing to. "In the left corner, we have the favorite to win this little skirmish, as well as the leader of team CRDL. Cardin Winchester!"

The lights on the left side of the arena finished activating, revealing a fully armored Cardin. He pulled his mace from behind his back and gave it a flashy swing. Loud cheering began to erupt from the darkness, along with several whistles.

Sky nodded, and then gestured to his right, repeating the process he had done when introducing Cardin. "And in the right corner, the loser who tried to play the hero! The man with an Imperial Arm, and the former leader of team RGLA, Raishun Alenko!"

The rest of the lights in the arena turned on, revealing a large crowd in the bleachers, along with Raishun who stood armorless in at the gated end of the arena. He had tied his blazer around his waist, leaving him with only his white dress shirt to protect him.

Behind the fighters, the screens buzzed to life and began to show their respective level of Aura. Cardin's was full, and a healthy green color, while Raishun's was in the red, barely a fifth of the way full.

On the screen, Raishun shrugged his shoulder painfully, revealing a slightly bloodied bandage that he had tied around his shoulder. "Let's just get this over with." He said, drawing his Imperial Arm and pointing it at his opponent.

"Looks like they're just about to start." Gil said, looking at the screen intently, "We probably wouldn't make it in time even if we tried Laura." He turned around just in time to see her run out the door with her weapons in hand.

"What did you honestly expect?" Alisa nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, "That she'd sit her twiddling her thumbs while watching Cardin beat him up."

"I-... I don't know just…" He sighed, grabbing the pair of rings of his desk and slipping them on. "Why can't she just listen to me for once."

"Since when does anyone listen to you." She chimed in, grabbing her rifle and standing by the door.

"Ouch, that was harsh." He grinned, joining her at the door. "Let's go see what we can do shall we?"


	9. Chapter 8: Cardin

**(Shortly after Raishun's fight with Laura)  
**  
Raishun watched Laura storm away, holding onto the open wound on his shoulder with a pained grimace. He pulled himself backward by his elbows until his back rested against the fountain. "Serah, I don't wanna look, how bad is it?" He asked, squeezing his eyes shut in fear.

Serah appeared beside him with a cartoonish pop. Taking a seat on the fountains railing, she gently pulled his hands away from his shoulder and inspected his wound closely. " _Oohhhh my god!... I mean uh… It doesn't look so good."_ She cringed, and wrapped her arms around his head, holding him against her chest. " _I'm sorry, but I don't think we can save the arm."  
_  
"What no!" He cried in a panicked voice, his eyes snapping open. He wriggled free from her grasp and looked over his shoulder, expecting to see his horribly maimed shoulder. Instead, he saw the coy spirit covering her mouth, her body shaking slightly as she struggled to control her laughter. His expression quickly went from one of panic to one of irritation, "Don't do that you jerk! I actually thought I was screwed!" He chastised, cuffing her lightly on the head.

" _Sorry, sorry!"_ She laughed, holding onto the spot he'd hit in mock pain, " _You just looked so afraid that I couldn't help but tease you."_ She moved, and sat down next to him, conjuring a small roll of gauze from his aura. " _Your wounds just a small cut, but we should still get you patched up just in case."  
_  
He took the bandages from her with a grateful smile, then began the process of wrapping his wound. He removed his school blazer, and unbuttoned the first three buttons of his dress shirt but stopped at the fourth. He looked at Serah out of the corner of his eye, "I can feel you looking at me."

" _What! I would never…"_ She replied, her hands covering her eyes, though her fingers were spread apart so she could see through the cracks.

"Yes… you would, you're doing it right now. I can see your eyes." He sighed, slipping his shoulder out of his shirt. Looking at his wound, he saw that it was indeed a shallow cut. He began to wrap it carefully, "How much aura do you think I'll have for my fight with Cardin?"

She lowered her hands and looked him dead in the eye, her face creased with worry. " _Not much, if I had to take a guess I'd say around ten, maybe fifteen percent at most."_ She looked up at the darkening sky blankly, taking a minute to respond. " _Laura really did a number on you this time."_

"Yeah, her mixed signals are starting to give me a headache too." He finished tending to his wound and cut the end of the gauze with his teeth. "I mean, one minute she's really nice to me… And the next she slamming my face into our dorm's carpet." The moment he had finished, the roll of gauze turned into a small yellow ball, that disappeared into his chest.

" _Don't you a have a word for people like that in your world? Give me a moment to remember, it was right on the tip of my tongue."_ She rested her head in her hand in thought. After a minute, her eyes lit up, and she looked at him with a wide smile. " _She's a tsundere right!"_

He stared at her in disbelief, then shook his head with a small frown. "No way, everyone knows they don't exist in real life." He buttoned up his shirt and tied his blazer around his waist. "Besides… I'm pretty sure she's into someone else." He muttered in a disheartened tone. Rising to his feet, he rolled his injured shoulder, wincing in pain.

" _Aww, don't get all down."_ Serah wrapped an arm around his shoulder, a sly grin painted on her face. " _You'll always have me, the best girl, remember."  
_  
"Yeah, thanks for that." He returned the gesture, and the two of them stared up at the night sky in silence, until a hand tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to look over his shoulder.

Standing behind him was one of his classmates, fully clad in a set of bronze armor. Underneath the armor, he wore a black long-sleeved shirt and similarly colored pants. His light-brown hair was neatly combed to the side, and a black scarf tied the whole outfit together. Currently, he was staring at him with a concerned look.

"Umm… who are you talking too?" The boy asked, with a hint of concern in his voice.

"No one," Raishun stated, removing his hand from Serah's shoulder and turning to face him. "You need somethin?"

"Yeah, I've been looking for you all over campus…" He shook his head, pushing aside the thought that his target might be insane. "I'm here to make sure you don't wimp out on your sparring match later today."

"I'm no coward, so you can go tell Cardin that he's still got a chance to back out if he wants." He spat, his eyes narrowing. "I'll make it on time, so get out of here!"

The boy sighed and began to walk away slowly. "Do you even know where the match is taking place?" He asked calmly, taking a seat on a nearby bench.

"I…" Raishun froze, the realization that he was woefully unprepared dawning on him. "I don't know." He muttered reluctantly.

"I thought so," The boy pulled a scroll from his pocket and began to tap away at the holographic screen. "Name's Dove, and I'll be your guide for the night."

"Wow, you must be pretty low on the pecking order if Cardin sent you to babysit me." Raishun spat.

"I wouldn't say I'm a babysitter… I prefer the term, 'Monitor'." He clarified, tapping his foot on the cold pavement impatiently. "Might want to save that fire of yours, the match doesn't start for another hour."

"Why so long? Does Cardin need to do his makeup before the match? Or is he just saying his prayers before he loses." The Ranger grinned, "Everyone does always say that CRDL's Leader is a coward."

Dove scowled, and shut his scroll abruptly, forcefully shoving it into his pocket. "You know what… I think it would be easier to keep an eye on you in the arena." He stood an began to walk off, looking visibly more annoyed by the second. "Follow me."

Raishun glared daggers at Dove's back but followed along reluctantly. " _Serah, go get some rest before our fight, I'm going to need you to possess me."  
_  
" _Gotcha."_ She replied, quickly disappearing into his chest.

As the two hunters walked, neither of them noticed the hooded figure stalking them through the shadows. The figure jumped from tree to ree without making a sound, quietly monitoring them. "Damn kids gonna give me an aneurysm at this rate…" They sighed, pulling a blue rod from under their cloak. "First the girl, now this… my job certainly isn't getting any easier."

Dove led Raishun through the gated end of the arena and into the center. The sound of people whispering amongst themselves excitedly filled the dark arena with an electric buzz. Most of the lights were off, save for a few that illuminated a booth that seemed to be taking bets on the fight.

"You're making money off me!?" Raishun yelled, turning to look at Dove with an angry look on his face. "Am I at least getting paid anything for this?"

Dove stared at the long line of students waiting to place their bets with a deadpan expression. "No, I thought you knew." He pulled out his scroll, tapped on it for a bit, then handed it to the Ranger along with a stylus. "Read and sign this so we can legally make money off you."

Scoffing, he did as he was told and began to skim through it. His expression remained calm for a majority of the contract until his stomach dropped when he reached the end of the fifth page. "This says you'll make me give up my Imperial Arm if I lose! Do you honestly think I'd agree to this crap!"

Raishun took a step forward threateningly with a glare on his face. For a moment it seemed like he would have actually struck Dove, but he stopped himself, looking away in sudden shame. "Sorry… Does Cardin actually think I'd agree to this?"

Dove gave him a cautious look and held up his hands in surrender. "Look, I'm not the one who wrote this, you can thank Cardin for that." He sighed, lowering his hands when it was clear he wasn't in any danger, "Besides, your rewards pretty good considering the risk your taking."

He shot him a skeptical look and continued to read until he found his prize on the last page. "If Raishun wins, team CRDL will cease all abusive behavior towards their peers effective immediately." He read out loud, "Are you sure Cardin wrote this? I didn't think he had the brainpower for proper grammar, or fancy writing for that manner."

"If I'm being honest…" Dove looked around to make sure no one could hear them, then leaned in so only Raishun could hear. "I didn't think so either until I saw him writing myself."

"Huh…." He pressed the stylus to the line where his signature was needed, then looked up at the boy in front of him. "You guys will all honor this right?"

"Hunters honor." He held up his right hand with a small smirk. "But seriously, if you could hurry up, that would be great. I've still got some things to prepare before the fight starts."

Nodding in approval, he reluctantly signed the contract and returned the scroll to its owner, who promptly left without a word. Raishun watched him leave, pulling out his own scroll to check for any messages, and looked visibly upset when there was nothing.. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble when I get back to the dorm…"

"Raishun!" Velvet called to him, bringing him back to reality as she ran down the bleachers towards him. She jumped over the railing and stopped a foot away from him. "Y-... You're really going through with this!?" She asked, her ears drooping slightly as she doubled over out of breath.

"Well… yeah." He smiled, stowing his scroll back in his pocket. "I mean sure, I might lose my Imperial Arm, but I can always just get a new one!"

" _No, no you can't! Having your fate intertwined with an Imperial Arm is a once in a lifetime thing, you and I are bound together by fate! Until death do us part and all that!"_ Serah pouted, causing his head to twinge in pain. " _And I'm shocked that you would just throw me away like that! I thought we were something special!"  
_  
" _I'm just trying to reassure her that I'm not worried about losing!"_ He shot back while ignoring the pain in his forehead. " _And I'm not going to let Cardin beat me so calm down!"  
_  
"But you don't know me, you shouldn't be risking so much for someone you barely know!" Velvet said, her brow creased with worry. "There's still time, we can go talk to Cardin about dropping out of the fight."

He reached out a hand and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "No way, you've been through a lot because of that guy… Besides, isn't it a Ranger's job to help the damsel in distress?"

" _Bleh! Gross! God, did you really just say that!?"_ Serah gagged, appearing behind Velvet with her hands covering her mouth. " _That line physically hurt me, and I don't even have a real body."  
_  
" _Shut up Serah, I've never been in a situation like this before so give me a break!"_ He hissed, pulling his hand away from Velvet's shoulder. " _I'm just trying to carry myself like a proper Ranger should."  
_  
" _You liar, you just have a thing for Faunus don't you!"_ She declared with a sly grin on her face.

" _W- What! No, I don't!"_ He cried, doing his best to keep a straight expression on his face.

" _Does that mean there'll be Catgirls, oh they're so hot!"_ She said in a bad impression of his voice.

" _I never said that!"_ His cheeks began to burn in embarrassment, as it became harder and harder to keep up his facade. " _Just knock it off! I'm trying to be the hero right now so can you not fool around before the fight!"_

" _Fine, but don't think this is over though~"_ She floated over to him and tapped his nose. " _And you're totally into catgirls by the way!"_ She blurted, quickly disappearing before he had a chance to berate her.

Velvet noticed the red in his cheeks and looked at him with worry. "Your cheeks are turning red, are you feeling okay?" She asked in a worried tone, leaning in to inspect his face.

"I-i'm fine!" He said quickly, looking away as she leaned in. "Could you step back though… you're kinda close."

"Huh?" She looked at him in confusion, then quickly realized how close their faces were. "Oh, right!" With her cheeks lightly tinged red, she took a step backward, averting her gaze nervously. "Sorry…"

An awkward silence took over the conversation, as neither hunter wanted to look at each other. Velvet suddenly nodded to herself and motioned for him to move closer. "Can you come here, I want to tell you something."

"Sure, what is it?" He leaned in so she could whisper into his ear, but instead he felt her lips press against his cheeks for a moment before she quickly pulled away. He gave her a dumbfounded stare, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "W-wha-what…"

"Don't think it was anything special… That was just for luck." She murmured under her breath, before running back into the stands in blending into the crowd.

Raishun reached a hand up, holding onto his cheek gingerly as few lights that were on suddenly shut off. The camera to his left quickly flared to life, signaling the beginning of his match. "Alright… let's do this thing." He whispered.

 **(PRESENT)  
**  
Raishun and Cardin began to circle each other slowly, waiting for the other to make the first move. Unsurprisingly, Cardin grew impatient and closed the space between them, his mace raised over his head to strike.

"You're open!" Raishun growled. Activating his semblance, he kept his body low to the ground and slid past Cardin. He swung his sword as he passed, landing a solid hit to Cardin's ribs, causing his blue aura to flare up in defense.

He hissed in pain, and grabbed Raishun's collar, pulling him back into striking range. "I wouldn't get so cocky if I were you!" He retaliated, his mace smashing into his chest. "You're nothing more than a bug to squash underneath my boot!" He followed up by kicking him in the ribs, sending him rolling away.

The injured Ranger skidded to a halt, jumping to his feet and rolling his shoulder. Behind him, the screen showed his aura drop until it was barely visible at the very edge of the meter. He frowned, and pointed his sword at his opponent defiantly, "Let's see you take this! Serah take over!" He roared.

The arena fell silent, the cheering of the crowd stopping abruptly as they waited for something to happen. Raishun nervously looked at his weapon, "Come on, do something." He whispered, his voice filled with panic.

" _I can't! I used the last of my fuel fighting that Ursa."_ She floated beside him, her eyes wide with panic. " _I'm sorry, I thought we had more… I didn't mean to put you in this situation."  
_  
His stomach dropped, and he lowered the blade until the tip scraped against the ground. " _Don't beat yourself up over it! We can still turn this around!"_ He reassured her, putting on a forced smile.

Cardin slowly walked forward, twirling his mace in a circle idly. "We're waiting." He grinned, spreading his arms out to his side. "Where's this big attack of yours?"

"Go to hell!" He growled, darting forward and locking weapons with the smug hunter in the middle of the arena. The crowd began to cheer once more as the two of them traded blows, with Raishun clearly having the upper hand due to his speed. He slowly began to force Cardin towards the wall of the arena.

Cardin let out a guttural growl as he tried to repel the assault, but with his back almost against the wall, he didn't have much room to dodge. "Guys, I could use a hand! My back is literally against the wall right now!" He cried, his aura quickly dropping to around fifty percent.

"There's no one to help you out here-" Raishun didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as the rest of team CRDL sprang into action, pulling him off Cardin.

Dove slammed the pommel of his sword into the back of his head, forcing him down onto one knee. "No hard feeling man," He grinned, stabbing his weapon into Raishun's stomach, the strike causing his Aura to flare up and give out. The wing on his back disappeared almost immediately after, much to his surprise. Dove smiled brightly at the distressed Ranger, "Just business."

Raishun punched Dove in the face, knocking him to the ground and glared daggers at Cardin. "What's the matter! I didn't know you were cowardly enough to have your team save your ass when things got tough."

Cardin responded by slamming his mace into Raishun's arm, knocking him to the ground. He quickly followed up, kicking him in the stomach. "I bet this hurts a ton, must be hard having no Aura all the time." He gloated, poking him with his mace. "Knock him down a peg guys." He ordered, stepping away.

 **(Meanwhile… with the rest of RGLA)  
**  
Alisa stared down at her scroll as she ran alongside Gil and Laura, her stomach growing tight at the sight before her. Team CRDL began to kick Raishun while he lay on the ground, stomping on his ribs and legs.

Gil watched beside her, biting his lip in apprehension, "Don't let Laura see that," He whispered, "Otherwise we'll have a bloodbath on our hands."

"Gotcha." She replied, sliding her scroll into her pocket and slipping her rifle off her shoulder, "Let's pick up the pace guys, I'm not losing money if Raishun loses."

"What do you mean," Laura spoke up, shooting her teammate a suspicious look. "Do you have something you want to share?" She drew one of her swords, the tip hovering an inch off the ground as they ran.

The sniper flinched and smiled sheepishly. "I may or may not have bet a thousand col that Raishun would win the fight." She admitted, noticing the dark glare that her leader gave her. "But I was gonna share with him afterward, I swear!"

"I… I don't…" Laura sighed, pressing the flat of her blade against her forehead. "We'll have words about this later, right now let's just focus on getting him out of there in one piece."

 **(Back in the arena…)  
**  
"I think he's just about done," Cardin spoke up, waving his teammates away. He slowly walked towards the fallen Ranger with his mace resting on his shoulder. "The show doesn't stop until one of us is unconscious…" He triumphantly raised his mace above his head, preparing to bring it down on his opponent's chest. "So why don't you take a little nap!"

The lights in the arena abruptly went out, plunging the arena into darkness. The hushed whispers and worried murmurs of the crowd filled the arena until the lights suddenly came back to life. When they did, Cardin was back in the center of the arena, and standing in front of Raishun was Eric, twirling a silver halberd through the air.

The axe part of the weapon was full of jagged edges and resembled the wing of some demonic creature. The hilt was covered in intricate markings and ended in a large spike that looked like it could bore a hole through a tree. But the part that drew everyone's attention was the large purple gem sat in the spearhead.

"Honestly, can't you have a fight without someone having to come save your sorry ass." He complained, tugging the hood of his trench coat lower over his face to hide it from the camera. "And before you bring it up, using your spirit counts as someone saving your ass."

"H-... How did you know…" Raishun choked out, clutching his side as he slowly rose to his feet. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, leaning against his sword to support himself.

"Ranger's can see each other's spirits if we try hard enough," he explained, looking at him from the corner of his eye. "Though if I'm being honest, I didn't expect you to be able to communicate with your spirit, and it's a girl at that"

"But I thought Ozpin said I was the only Ranger in our class." He wiped the blood from his mouth, and shakily began to stand on his own two feet, "How did you manage to get past him unnoticed?"

"Unlike you, I don't wave my Imperial Arm around like it's some sort of toy." He said coldly, "I'll answer your question later. So for now, just sit back, and watch how a real Ranger fights."

"Hey! Who said you could be a part of this sparring match!" Cardin roared, his team bunched together behind him, eyeing the new arrival nervously. "Do you even know who you're dealing with!"

"Funny, I should be the one asking you that." He spat, twirling his halberd so the spearhead pointed at them, "I'm only here to even the odds, four against one did seem unfair to him. But you'll need twice that number to deal with me."

"Well let's see how you handle this you wannabe hero!" Cardin roared, charging forward and swinging his mace at Eric's head. His aim was true, and the mace head slammed against his head with a resounding crack. "You're not so tough now huh!" He grinned.

"Was that all you've got?" Eric glared darkly, unfazed by the attack, He brushed away Cardin's mace, and kicked him in the chest, sending him skidding to a halt at his teams' feet.

Cardin shakily rose to his feet, staring at his team with disgust. "Don't just stand there you idiots, go get him!" He ordered.

The three members of team CRDL rushed forward, their weapons set to strike Eric. But he simply sighed and swung his halberd in a wide arc, striking all three enemies at once and sending them flying like ragdolls.

"Seriously this is just pathetic, the person behind me has more guts than all four of you combined." He stabbed the spiked end of his halberd into the ground and twisted the grooved parts of the polearm. The sound of a lock being turned resounded throughout the arena, as large red rings spread across the ground, with him serving as the center. "I'm about to show you something a step above your possession, so I hope your taking notes." He said to Raishun.

He pried the gem loose from the spearhead of his weapon and clutched it tightly, a mark appearing on the back of his hand. He took a deep breath, and when he spoke, his voice was loud enough for everyone in the arena to hear. "Behold, that light of rebellion that rules over all…" He gave the grooved parts another twist, grimacing in pain as the rings of light underneath him grew brighter, rising into the air above him in a straight line. "The one who breaks the chains that bind to fate…"

"Someone stop him!" Cardin cried, watching the events in front of him unfold with a distressed expression on his face. He turned to his team, but they were transfixed by the lights. "Fine, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!" He cried, charging at Eric his mace sparking against the ground.

"Not on my watch!" Raishun roared, slamming into Cardin's side and knocking the hunter to the floor. He pressed his foot into his chest plate, pinning him to the ground, and turned to Eric with a smug look on his face. "Do your thing, I can't hold him for long!"

Eric nodded gratefully and closed his eyes in concentration. He released the gem from his hand, letting it float up into the center of the rings. "Burn into your eyes, the diving gate of destruction!" He thrust his arms out to the side, arching his back so he faced towards the ceiling as the rings pulled back towards the ground like a bowstring being pulled taught. "I Eric, summon thee in my name!" The rings shot forward and disappeared, launching the gem high into the air in the process. "Awaken, ACATEON!" Eric thrust the spearhead forward, shattering the gem as it fell towards the ground. An intricately marked ball of roaring flames consumed his body, the seals around the flame spinning faster and faster until they shattered. The flames quickly died out, revealing a changed Eric.

His trench coat had been replaced by a misty red cloak that draped over his entire body, underneath which he was clad in maroon armor. Golden accents lined the similarly colored greaves, but the part that drew the most attention were the two large horns that protruded from under the hood, white in color and grooved, they curved upwards and ended in a pair of sharp points.

"Haha, I've finally returned!" he grinned, though it wasn't his voice that came from his body. This voice was more guttural and deeper, "It's been too long since I last had the chance to hunt."

" _Hey Raishun,"_ Eric appeared next to him, his body was transparent like Serah's, and he floated about a foot off the ground. " _You should stand back, you're in the splash zone."  
_  
" _Huh! Okay, but what are you doing here?"_ He limped backwards until his back was against the wall of the arena, " _And what happened to your body!"_

" _What I just did was went past the limits of a normal possession. I call it Synchronization."_ He explained, crossing his arms over his chest, " _Now, behold the power of an Imperial Arm unleashed!"_

Actaeon suddenly rushed forward with halberd in hand, closing the space between him and Dove in the blink of an eye. He slammed the spearhead into Dove's body, shattering his Aura instantly and lifting him up into the air on the end of it. Luckily for the now unconscious hunter, his chest plate kept him from being run through.

" _Easy Actaeon, we don't want any bodies."_ Eric warned, quickly teleporting over to his spirits side, " _And I thought I ordered you to only lower their auras, not knock them out in on hit!"_

" _As I said before, I haven't seen action in a while due to a certain someone. So it's hard to control myself now that I have a chance to let loose."_ He threw Dove's body to the side effortlessly and sauntered forward towards the other members of team CRDL. "Who's next?" he grinned but received no response from them. "All three it is then!"

He raised his hand above his head, and several large red gates began to appear in the air behind him. The doors to the gates flung open as he clenched his fist, "Don't worry, this won't kill you," Hundreds of spearheads began to appear in each of the gates, pointing directly at the remaining members of team CRDL. "It'll just hurt a lot!"

He swung his hand down so his palm faced them, and the spears shot forth from the gates at lightning speed. Some impaled themselves into the ground, but most of them met their mark and hit the CRDL. They cried out in pain and quickly became enveloped in a large cloud of dust under the barrage of spears, the screens on both ends of the arena showing their Aura quickly depleting to keep them alive.

" _Actaeon, that's enough,"_ Eric ordered, watching the screens carefully. " _We don't want to make it too easy for him."_

HIs spirit nodded, and let his hand fall to his side. The gates stopped firing and disappeared in a burst of embers. " _The rest is in your hands, slacker. Prove to us that you can change."_ He growled at Raishun.

Eric quickly darted back into his body, and the armor disappeared along with the cloak, his usual trench coat taking their place. He clenched his hands tightly and jumped into the bleachers and out of sight.

"Wait, what the hell do you mean!" Raishun yelled into the crowd but received no response. He frowned and turned to look at one of the screens. Cardins Aura was almost non-existent, and the other members of his teams barely had any left. "So this is the power of a Ranger…" he murmured in awe.

"RAISHUN!" Laura cried, jumping down from the bleachers and running to his side. Her breathing was ragged, and her white hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat. "You idiot… you just had to go and do the one thing I specifically told you not to do!" She punched him in the chest softly, doing her best to look intimidating. Her eyes drifted to his shoulder. "How's your…"

"It's fine." He lied, looking at her with worry."I'm more worried about you, why the hell are you out here?"

"Do you really… need to ask me… that!" She glared, "We're a team, aren't we! If one of us is down, we pick them back up. If one of us needs help, we'll do our best to help them." She stopped glaring and smiled at him softly. "If a big dummy decides to run off and get into trouble on his own… Then we back them up."

He looked down at her in surprise and clenched his eyes shut tightly. His breath hitched in his throat, "Thank you…" He whispered, quickly holding his sleeve up to his face. He took a deep breath and lowered his arm, putting on a bright grin. "Then will you fight by my side, as a team?"

"Certainly you big dummy." She smiled, "But I'm not the only one here with you right now."

"Huh?" He looked up at the crowd and saw Alisa with a bright smile on her face holding back an angry looking Gil, who was trying to force his way into the arena while yelling something he couldn't quite hear.

"Gil, why don't you give the class a demonstration," Laura asked, drawing her swords and facing their opponents, who were still recovering from Actaeon's attack.

Gil grit his teeth and shrugged off Alisa. "No problem." He murmured, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "You got this." Closing his eyes, he spread his arms out to his sides… and began to sing. Music began to play from out of nowhere to accompany his singing.

A purple light quickly swirled around Raishun, and he felt his energy slowly return to him. "What the…" He stared at his hands, and a green light swirled around him, quickly followed by a blue light. "This is Gil's…"

"Yeah, this is his semblance." Laura spoke up, "We called it, Siren, in our family. His songs have the power to strengthen his teammates, he used to use it all the time when we were little… but he doesn't like using it much now that we're older."

"Why? I think it's a cool semblance." He grinned, watching as the remaining members of team CRDL finished recovering from their attack.

"You can ask him yourself when we're done here," Laura suggested and darted forward into battle. She closed the distance between her and Cardin, she drove her blades into the back of his legs, forcing him to his knees. "Hey, remember what I told you would happen if you messed with my team… Especially with him?" She threatened with a bright smile on her face.

"...Please don't break my face." He pleaded, letting his mace fall to the floor and raising his hands in surrender. "I promise you, we'll leave right now and never mess with you again."

"Sorry, but I thought the match only ended when a fighter was knocked out." She stabbed her blades into his chest, shattering his aura. Then she took a step back, and pointed her palm at him, "So how about you take a nap." She activated her semblance, and his head slammed into the ground, knocking him out instantly.

One of his teammates ran up behind her in an attempt to rescue his leader. "I don't usually hit girls," He raised his halberd, attempting to drive the spearhead into her back. "But for you I'll make an exception-" He choked, as a loud crack resounded throughout the arena, followed by his head whipping backward. He crashed to the floor, and the screens showed his aura drop to zero.

"Like hell, I'm losing my bet… bitch." Alisa whispered from the rafters. She loaded another bullet into her rifle and shot him one more time for good measure. "Double tap."

The last member of team CRDL stood facing the two fighters in the arena. His legs shook with fear, as he pointed his weapon at the two approaching threats. His eyes briefly glazed over the bodies of his fallen comrades, and he spoke up, "Wait! I surrender, just let me go!" He dropped his weapons and held up his hands. His name on the screen was crossed out with a large X, and the words "RAISHUN WIN" appeared.

The crowd erupted into an equal mix of groans and cheers. Raishun took Laura's hand in his own and held them up the in the air as a symbol of victory. The smaller girl had to stand on her tip toes to avoid being held up in the air, but she didn't seem mind. She simply stared up at him with a small smile on her face.

After enough time had passed, he let go of her hand and looked at her. "Listen, I couldn't have done this without you guys so… thanks… for everything." He scratched his cheek nervously, "And I promise that I'll start listening to you a bit more… leader."

Alisa watched her team celebrate from the rafters, a smiling ear to ear. "Well, time to collect my winnings!" She said excitedly, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. She was about to drop down when she saw a hooded figure out of the corner of her eye watching as well.

The figure tapped a blue rod against their leg impatiently, "That was close… I was afraid I'd have to get involved." They rose to their feet and stretched. "That Eric kid was strong though, he could be a problem if I don't deal with him effectively-" They stopped, noticing Alisa presence.

"Freeze!" She flinched, slinging her rifle off her shoulder and pointing it at the figure. "These bullets can pierce through Aura, one shot is all it'll take!"

The figure tapped the rod, extending it into a full-length spear. The rod part was intricately carved with blue symbols running up and down it. The whole design was clean and smooth, except for the blue gem that sat in the spearhead. "Oh good, this makes my life easier." They held the spear in front of them, and the gem began to glow. "Now I don't have to hunt you down myself you murderer."


	10. Chapter 9: A Failed Experiment

Alisa shot the hooded figure a fierce glare, and pulled the trigger on her rifle, forcing her opponent to deflect her bullets with their spear. "What do you know about my past!" She roared, emptying her magazine.

"I know quite a bit…" The figure commented while they patiently waited for Alisa to reload. "I know how you killed that person in cold blood, all over a petty fight too." Their voice was being distorted by something underneath their hood, making it hard to determine whether the speaker was male or female, "It's funny how the past comes back to bite." The figure taunted, pulling the hood lower over their face.

"Shut up! Who are you to judge my life!" Alisa roared, flicking a knob on her rifle with her thumb while her other hand created a bullet. When she pulled the trigger, a hailstorm of bullets tore through the rafters at a rapid speed. The bullets rebounded off the reinforced steel of the rafters, lighting up the area with bright sparks. The crowd below blissfully unaware of the fight going on above them, they were too focused on Raishun's victory to notice.

The figure had just enough time to duck behind a steel beam, avoiding being torn to shreds by the hailstorm of bullets around them. They didn't escape unscathed though, as a bullet grazed the figure's shoulder, causing them to flinch in pain. "They weren't kidding when they said it rips through aura…" They murmured, holding a hand over their wound, purple aura flashing brightly around the torn flesh as it knit itself back together,

Alisa ejected the empty magazine, and moved to reload it with freshly made bullets when the figure darted out from behind the beam, and threw their spear at her. Thinking quickly, Alisa swung her rifle at the last second, knocking the spear away into the darkness below them.

"I've moved on from my past, it doesn't tie me down anymore! So why can't you just leave me alone!" Alisa cried, her usually bright and happy eyes going hollow, as if staring off into the distance. Her face contorted into an angry glare, and she finished loading a fresh magazine. "I know I made a mistake, but that doesn't give you the right to make my life hell!" She pulled the trigger, sending a bullet soaring through the air.

Halfway towards it target, it turned into a sharp spike that buried itself in the figures cloak, pinning them to the beam behind them. They grunted in discomfort, and quickly slipping out of their cloak, darting back into the darkness and escaping outside through an open panel in the ceiling.

"Don't think you can get away!" Alisa chased after them, climbing through the panel and emerging on the roof outside.

Night had fallen, and their new battlefield was illuminated in a ghostly light by the remains of the shattered moon hanging in the sky. Alisa's attacker basked in the moonlight several meters away from her, granting the huntress a clear look at their features.

Her attacker was wearing a Grimm mask that resembled a deathstalker. Two pointed horns protrude from the mouth area of the mask, resembling the Grimm's mandibles. Three pairs of slits lined the masks face, and a pair of sea foam colored eyes peered out from the middle pair of slits. A leather corset bound their figure in an hourglass figure, coupled with a black long-sleeved shirt underneath that hid their features well. Their light green hair reflected the moonlight, and was tied back in a short ponytail, the end of which barely scraped the nape of their neck.

"You're with the White Fang…" Alisa instinctively took a step backwards, readying her rifle in case the figure tried to rush her. "But they don't work with humans, much less the Ashford's."

"You're right, they aren't working with them… I am." The figure stalked closer, holding their hand out with the palm facing her. "They think I provide them with new weapons, when it's just a front to complete my true job."

Alisa pulled the trigger on her rifle, only to hear a resounding click. She growled, and pulled it again, creating the same clicking sound. With a growl of frustration, she threw it to the side and pulled a knife from her hip. "Now you're really asking for it!"

She charged forward, intending to strike her opponent in the neck. A whistling noise from behind her made her falter, and she barely had enough time to dive out of the way as the figures spear returned to their hand.

"You sealed your fate the moment you set foot on this roof." The figure taunted, tapping the tip of their spear against the ground. "But let's see how much you can entertain me."

With a cry of anger, Alisa charge forward, ducking underneath several stabs and getting in close. She swung her knife upwards, but the figure barely escaped being eviscerated by her strike, and responded with a solid kick to her gut.

She staggered backwards, holding her stomach in pain, coughing as the wind was knocked out of her. She held her knife up and blocked the figures spearhead with the flat of her blade, struggling underneath the strength of the attack. "Who are you?" She hissed.

"I'm the leader of Adam's personal guard." The figure said in a no nonsense tone. "Herba."

Herba thrust pulled back and thrust her lance forward, but Alisa expected the attack and slid underneath her thrust, quickly vaulting over a second stab in the process.

"I won't miss this time!" She hissed, getting in close and plunging her knife into Herba's chest. She felt it pierce flesh, and looked up with a sadistic grin on her face. "I've got you now."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Herba drove their shoulder into Alisa, knocking her off balance. Taking the opening, they drove their spear into her stomach, the tip stopping an inch away from her stomach, deflected by her pink aura.

"It'll take more than that… to take me out." Alisa choked out, gripping the spear with both hands and forcing it away from her body.

"My, my, it seems i didn't take you seriously enough." Herba said coldly, "Please accept my apologies." The shadows beneath them began to stir, and a sharp point shot up from the shadows. It broke through Alisa's aura, and pierced her all the way through her stomach, the point breaking through her back and hoisting her an inch above the floor.

Her eyes went wide with shock, and she looked down at the spike protruding from her stomach. "Guh…" She coughed, blood pouring from her mouth onto the floor below.

The spike receded back into the floor, dropping Alisa on the floor with a sickening wet thud. She struggled to her feet, hunched over and clutching the wound in her hands. Blood poured from the wound, splattering onto the ground in large puddles. "N-no… N-not like this…" She whispered, the world around her beginning to grow cold and dark as she fell to her knees, unable to support her own weight any longer.

Herba loomed over her, and pressed the flat of the spearhead to her face. "Ah, such an unfitting end to the infamous Jack the Ripper." They tutted, the gem in the center of the spearhead glowing brightly as it came into contact with her skin.

"It was self-defense." She whispered, her breathing slowing down, as she stared fearfully at the bright gem. It seemed to look back at her with a cold gaze.

"So you say…" They sighed reaching a hand up and removing their mask. "But I would save your breath dear… This is a dream after all." Herba raised her spear into the air, "A very bad dream." she said, and brought the spear down.

Alisa squeezed her eyes shut, and awaited her end calmly. She waited… and waited… but nothing happened. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and saw the moons remains shining brightly in the sky. Quickly rising to her feet, she began to inspect her body for damage, quickly running her hands up and down her body frantically. She was untouched, by their was a blank space in her mind. "Why was I up here again?" She murmured in confusion.

"Alisa!? Alisa are you up here?" Raishun yelled, his hand clutching the edge of the roof as he pulled himself over the ledge, flopping onto the ground out of breath. He looked to his right, and his eyes settled on her. "O-oh! There you… are! You scared us when you disappeared after my fight, so I went looking for you."

Alisa walked over to her teammate and knelt down next to him. "Sorry! I guess I came up here to relax and ended up taking a nap!" Grasping his arm with both hands, she helped hoist him to his feet, and brushed off his shoulders in a sign of goodwill.

"For a bit?" Raishun shot her a worried look, "You were gone for three hours! You had us all worried sick!" Lifting her bangs with one hand, he pressed the back of his other hand against her forehead softly, checking her temperature. " I'm seeing any wounds. Are you sure your're not sick or something?"

"I'm fine, at least I think so." She pressed her forehead against his hand to help him get a better reading. "I just feel a little lightheaded, and I can't shake the feeling that I was in the middle of something important. Something that made me feel… scared." She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, a shiver ran down her spine as the image of a blue spear briefly flashed into her mind.

Her explanation didn't do much to ease his worries, and he pulled his hand away from her forehead. "Well you don't have a fever. Maybe you just had a nightmare or something?" He noticed her rifle laying on the ground to their left, and he went to retrieve it. As he was picking it up, he noticed several scratch marks in the stock, as if it had been used to deflect some sort of bladed weapon.

He decided to keep his observation to himself, and slung it over his shoulder awkwardly, surprised by how heavy the rifle was. Turning his head to look at her, he flashed a bright smile, "Come on, let's get you home. You can worry about collecting the money that you made off my fight tomorrow."

He walked over to the opening in the roof he had come from, and knelt at the edge, trying to figure out how to get down without breaking a leg. "Speaking of cash, I demand at least fifteen percent since I was the one doing the actual fighting."

Alisa's eyes brightened, and she slowly began to regain her usual energy. "Oh right! I'm rich now!" She pranced over to Raishun, joining him at the opening. "I'm gonna buy so much dust we'll be swimming in it! Finally I won't have to worry about running out of ammo." She looked at him from the corner of her eye, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. "But since I'm a nice rich person, how about a little bet?"

"I'm listening." Raishun leaned on the railing, a similar smile spreading across his own face. "What've you got in mind."

"How about we race back to the dorm. If you win, I'll give you fifteen percent of the money I made." She explained, "But if you lose… You have to do all the homework Oobleck gives me for a week!" She declared triumphantly, pointing a finger at his face.

He flinched, and began to consider her offer. Twenty percent was a lot of money, considering Alisa's reputation among the other students as a sort of loan shark. But on the other hand Ooblecks homework was infamous for how tedious and boring it was. But he did need the money, so his answer was obvious. "You're on! In fact, I'm so confident that I won't even use my semblance!" He bluffed, knowing full well that his aura was fully depleted.

"That's the spirit! We'll go on the count of three!" She stood with her back to the opening, and stretched her hands over her head. "Three… two… one-" Suddenly, she fell backwards through the hole, deftly landing on the floor below and sprinting away. "See you at the finish line loser!" She yelled, her voice faint as she reached the end of the stadium.

"Hey that's no fair you left your rifle!" He yelled with a cheerful grin on his face as he climbed over the opening after her. "You freaking cheater, just wait till I get my hands on you!"

Laura set her book down on her lap, her brow creased with worry as she turned in bed to check the clock on her nightstand for the fifth time that night. The pit in her stomach grew larger as the clock read close to three in the morning. Her anxiety about her teammates whereabouts was keeping her awake, and with a heavy sigh she placed her book next to the clock. She hadn't joined Raishun in looking for Alisa as she believed the energetic girl had just been collecting the money from their classmates. Despite this knowledge, he had still gone off looking for her.

"Alright, time to go look for them." She nodded to herself, climbing out of bed and tying her hair back in a messy ponytail since it would be too much trouble to brush it. She moved towards the door, and her eyes settled on Gil's sleeping body nestled under his covers.

Out of all of them he had it roughest after the fight. He had been approached by at least two dozen girls after the fight, all of them asking about his singing. He had spent the rest of the evening brushing them off, or simply running away. Due to this, the minute he made it back to his dorm, he climbed under his covers and was out like a light.

For a minute she thought about waking him, but decided against it. He needed to rest just as much as she did. She reached for the doorknob, then stopped and looked down. She was dressed in a long white nightgown, which faded into an ornate orange pattern at the hem. The sleeves stopped at her elbows, and had a similar pattern that circled around the wrists. It was a beautiful dress, but the problem was that it tended to be a bit see through if one looked hard enough. " _That was close… I almost went out like this."_

Quickly, she looked around for something she could wear. A flash of red caught her eye at the foot of Raishun's bed, and she walked closer to investigate. Lazily draped over the end of his bed, was the red hoodie he had worn when he first arrived at Beacon. Gingerly, she held it up to the light, and was relieved to see that despite three large gashes in the clothing, it provided a decent amount of coverage.

"He wouldn't mind right? I wouldn't want to catch a cold outside after all. I'm sure he'll understand." She murmured to herself, taking it into the bathroom and slipping it on in front of the large mirror.

While it may have fit Raishun nicely, it was a loose bit at best on her smaller frame. The bottom of the hoodie easily reached her knees, providing a fit similar to the trench coat she would wear out in the field. The sleeves completely covered her hands, and she had to roll them up just to zip the hoodie up.

She did a small twirl, and satisfied with her appearance, left the bathroom and walked to the front door once more. She reached for he handle again, only to have the door burst open with a loud crash. Startled, she jumped backwards just in time to avoid Alisa, who tumbled through the doorway, falling to the floor at Laura's feet.

"Alisa where were you!" Laura knelt down, a look of worry etched on her face as she took her teammates body in her arms, supporting her neck so she faced her. Alisa's breathing was ragged, but she didn't seem to be harmed in any way. "You disappeared for hours! You had us all sick with worry, we didn't know if a Nevermore had carried you off, or if you had gone crazy with greed and gotten lost in the forest!"

"I was just relaxing on the roof of the arena when I fell asleep by accident." Alisa explained through ragged breaths. She looked up at Laura with half lidded eyes and a wide smile on her face. "I didn't think I would sleep for so long though! Sorry if I made you worry too much!" She lifted her arm to give Laura a hug, but fell back into the white haired girls arms. "Wow, you have really soft hands you know."

Laura took Alisa's hand in hers with a sigh, clenching it tightly in relief. "I'm glad you're safe but never do that again okay. At least tell us next time so that idiot doesn't have to run out and find-" She froze, remembering that she had another missing teammate to worry about. Her hands moved to Alisa's shoulders and she began to shake her lightly. "Where's the idiot." She demanded, her sleeves slipping back down her hands as she began to shake Alisa more violently.

"Uwaah! He's right behind me… Just stop shaking!" Alisa answered frantically, "Otherwise I'll… Oh, hello floor." She said, before passing out from exhaustion and going limp in Laura's hands.

Laura barely had enough time to lay her down softly when Raishun came barreling through the open doorway at top speed. He tripped over Alisa's unconscious body and slammed into Laura, sending them both tumbling to the floor in a tangled mess of limbs.

"That was dirty Alisa!" He choked out, his breathing even more rugged than Alisa's had been. "Not only did you give yourself a huge head start, but I was carrying your rifle, which is heavy as hell by the way, the whole time!" He rose up on all fours to stand, but froze when he began to take note of his surroundings. He hovering above Laura, their faces several inches apart. "H-hey!" His voice cracked, and his face began to go red as he cursed his luck. "Uh, fancy meeting you down here."

"Yeah…" Laura replied with rosy cheeks. "Could you, er… you know, get up?" She pleaded, refusing to meet his gaze. "The doors wide open, and I don't want people getting the wrong idea."

"Yeah totally!" He blurted, and quickly scrambled his feet, backing away to give her space. He stared at the floor intently, doing his best to avoid her gaze as she rose to her feet. "Sorry about that, you're not hurt are you?"

"No, I'm fine." She replied quietly, sliding the sleeves of her hoodie back up to her elbows.

"That's good." He replied, and an awkward silence filled the room as neither one spoke. Taking a deep breath, he decided to try and break the tension in the room. "Listen, about what happened earlier in the garden, I just wanted to say-"

"No, it's alright." Laura cut him off abruptly, and took a few steps forward to close the distance between them. "I'll admit, I crossed a line when I attacked you in the garden. I know it was wrong, but I was just so worked up by how hard headed you were being. It's just…" She trailed off, and reached a hand up, letting it rest softly on what she assumed was his uninjured shoulder. "I don't like seeing you get hurt so much. You've always been up there with the rest of us, only you always come back hurt in some way." She let out a half-hearted laugh, and looked up at him sadly, "It's funny, I wanted to keep you from getting hurt, yet I ended up hurting you myself."

Ironically, she was hurting him now by touching his still tender wound, sending shock-waves of pain down his arm. He made sure he didn't let it show, and it wasn't hard as he was captivated by the words she had spoken. For once, he didn't know what to say, the girl who had berated him for most of his time in Remnant, seemed to genuinely care about his well being. Thinking on instinct, he pulled her into a warm hug. "Don't worry about it, I'll get it healed in the morning." His heart was beating a mile a minute, as he realized what he had just done. "I'm going to get stronger, that way you won't have to worry about me so much."

Laura's eyes widened, and she felt heat rush to her cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her. Smiling softly, she returned the gesture. "I'll be happy to help you with that." She pulled away, and stared at him with a bright smile. "Just promise me... you won't die on me."

Unbeknownst to them, Gil had awoken the moment Raishun had come barreling through the door. While at first he was happy that his cousin was actually apologizing to someone for once, his happiness quickly turned to horror when he saw Raishun embrace her. Moving slowly, he reached into his pocket and slipped on the two black rings he always kept with him. His body tensed up, as an arm appeared around his waist, keeping him anchored to his bed. He opened his mouth to cry out in surprise but a hand clamped over it.

"Shhh, quiet now." Alisa whispered in his ear, having recovered enough energy to climb into his bed. "You're not ruining the moment on my watch." She pressed the cold barrel of her pistol, which for some reason was suddenly equipped with a silencer, against her neck.

The cold metal sent goosebumps down his arms, and he glared at her with bloodshot eyes. "Alisa. Let go of me this instant. I refuse to let Raishun hit on-" He hissed in pain, as he felt a sharp prick in his neck. Instinctively, he reached a hand up to cover the afflicted area. "What did you do to me?" He demanded. His mind began to grow foggy, and he began to have trouble thinking as he drifted off to sleep.

"Shh, let the ship sail… let it sail into the beautiful ocean that is love." Alisa whispered, as his head flopped against the mattress. A look of surprise appeared on her face, as she let him go and inspected her gun in confusion. "That's weird, I didn't think it would work that fast." She looked over the edge of the bed where a pile of rope and hancuffs lay hidden underneath Gil's desk. "And I went through the trouble of preparing all this in advance too in case he struggled." She pressed the gun to her own neck, "He's gotta be faking." She pulled the trigger without hesitation, and immediately began to feel the effects. "Oh… hello mattress." Before long, she was in a similar state as Gil.

Raishun noticed the rosy color of Laura's cheeks, his own quickly heating up. "I promise, but the same goes for you okay!"

"Right!" She shoved her hands into her hoodies pockets, and was pleasantly surprised by how warm the lining was. "We'll start in the morning then since it's the weekend."

"Are you sure? I mean it's our day off, I'm sure you've got things to do." He asked with a surprised expression, "I wouldn't want to get in your way."

"I said, we're going to train tomorrow." She repeated, the smile on her face remaining unchanged, but her voice had a commanding air to it. "Okay?"

"Alright, tomorrow it is then." He relented, holding his hands up in surrender. The red hoodie wrapped around her caught his attention, and the three slices in the fabric confirmed that it was his. "Hey, is that my hoodie?"

Laura flinched, and turned her nose upward. "No, it's one of mine. I had it brought in from home since it's getting cold." She pulled at the fabric under the slices to give him a better look. "It's the latest fashion trend, like torn jeans but a hoodie." She lied confidently.

"Right, but it's just… It's a bit big on you don't you think." He looked her over. "Can you even use your hands in that thing?"

"Just go to bed you dummy!" She ordered, turning on her heel and climbing into her own bed with her back turned to him, going silent.

"Whatever you say." He grumbled and turned to check on Alisa, but she wasn't on the floor anymore. Confused, he climbed into his own bed, staring at the ceiling in thought as the lights in the dorm went out on their own, no longer sensing movement in the room. "She must've gotten into be by herself." He closed his eyes, and tried to sleep, but the image of him hugging Laura wouldn't leave his head. " _... I can't sleep…"_

A loud knock on the door woke Raishun from his slumber. Grudgingly, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and snapped his fingers, a leather chestplate appearing on his body. "Thanks Serah." He slurred, walking past Alisa's bed on his way towards the door. As he passed, he noticed it was empty.

"What the? Alisa's never up this early." He looked around the room, but couldn't see her. The bathroom door was wide open, so she wasn't there either. "Where could you have gone." He muttered, looking around the room in confusion. His eyes settled on GIl's bed, and they went wide when he saw that he wasn't alone.

Alisa was sleeping peacefully beside him with her arm wrapped around his stomach. Raishun blinked twice, then walked around to Alisa's side of the bed, his foot kicking the pile of rope and handcuffs by their bedside. "There's no way…"

A second knock at the door brought him back to his senses, he took one last look at the damning seen in front of him and walked out of the room. "It's too early for this crap." He murmured.

To his surprise, Eric was waiting for him on the other side, tapping his foot impatiently on the ground. He was dressed in his usual black trench coat, only this time he had it unbuttoned, revealing a grey shirt with a wing pattern that lay underneath. "Took you long enough, what did you have to put on your makeup or something." He scoffed, shooting Raishun an annoyed glare.

"Yeah sorry about that, I was getting dressed." Raishun lied, pointing to his bed head. "And I'll have you know it takes a long time to get this look just right."

"Right…" Eric looked unconvinced, but he dropped the subject despite the skepticism. "Whatever, a little bird told me that you were going to train with Laura today." He leaned against the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"How do you know about that?!" Raishun demanded with a confused look. "Only Laura and I knew about that! Are you a stalker or something?" A cheshire smile spread across his face. "Of course that's what I'd expect from someone who tries to act so cool all the time."

"Nobody told me about it." Eric smirked, his orange eyes glinted with a mischievous light Raishun had only ever seen in Alisa. "We have really thin walls here, and I'm your neighbor remember."

Raishun froze with the smile still on his face, and slowly turned to look at Eric, looking visibly paler. "You didn't happen to hear anything else did you?" He asked in a shaky voice.

Eric stopped leaning against the wall and clasped his hands together in front of him, and in his best impression of Laura began to speak. "Just promise me… You won't die on me."

"AGH! Shut up! Shut up! Shut UP!" Raishun grabbed Eric by the collar and began shaking him violently. "That conversation was private! Ugh, I'm gonna die from embarrassment."

"Oh look at that, you're starting to sound like her now." He chuckled, enjoying the distress he was causing him. "But enough fun, we have some business to take care of." He poked Raishun in the chest roughly. "Bring out your spirit, there's something I need to be sure of."

"Sure, but I don't see what the big deal is, we're just like you and Actaeon." The young Ranger closed his eyes, and reached deep inside himself until he sensed Serah's presence in his subconscious, " _Wake up already, Eric wants to talk to you."_

" _Ugh, now? It's like… six in the morning."_ She groaned, appearing beside him with a loud yawn. Her eyes were tired and had dark bags under them. "What do you want? It's too early to deal with your drama." She hissed, looking at Eric with unhidden irritation.

Eric gave her a dumbfounded stare, his eyes glancing over her body twice. "You're… a girl." He said in shock, taking a step backwards. "I thought Actaeon was lying."

"So she's a girl, what's the big deal?" Raishun piped up, the confusion on his face deepening, "We still get along as well as anyone else. But that doesn't mean we've done anything inappropriate if that's what you're asking!" He blurted, looking at Serah nervously. " _Don't say anything stupid."_

"That's reassuring… I guess? But anyways it's just that throughout the thirty years that Imperial Arms have existed, Rangers and their Spirits have always shared the same gender." He explained, pulling the hood further over his head so that his eyes were no longer visible. "For a pair to have different genders is just, unheard of. Lucky for you, I don't think it will mess with her ability to possess you."

"Yeah, will I think that makes us unique, like some sort of chosen heroes or something!" Raishun chimed in, and tried to lean on Serah's shoulder. In his rush, he forgot she was a ghost, and proceeded to pass straight through her and crash to the ground.

Eric sighed, pinching his brow in disappointment. "You ignored the part about it being weird, guess I'll show you why." He helped the novice hunter to his feet, and moved him closer to Serah. "Close your eyes and focus on each others breathing." He ordered, "Serah put your hand on his chest."

"' _Kay."_ She nodded, and pressed her palm against him chest, closing her eyes as he had ordered. " _Now what?"_

Eric took a step backwards, inspecting the two thoughtfully. "Raishun, what does Laura take from you in order to possess you?"

"My emotions," He said, bringing up a memory from his childhood he found amusing. He was running around in the park with some friends, he couldn't have been more than five or six at the time. The emotion and color began to drain from his memory, until it was as if he was watching a gray-scale movie.

He opened his eyes, and he was standing where Serah had been a moment ago, only he had his back to her. He shot an angry glare at Eric, and stormed over to him. "That didn't do shit smart ass, all it did was take a memory from me!" He hissed, raising his fist to strike Eric in the jaw. Only his fist went right through him without doing any damage. "What the hell!" He cried in a panicked tone, patting his body down frantically. "If I'm here, then that means that-" Slowly, he began to turn around, his blood running cold in his veins when he saw his body standing behind him. "Oh no."

"So this is a boy's… no… Raishun's body." Serah murmured, patting her chest and stomach curiously. A sudden grimace came over her face as she looked down at the floor. "How do you guys move with-"

"NO, you stop right there! Don't you dare do anything in my body, that I wouldn't do myself!" Raishun cried in a panic, rushing forward and trying to force his way back into his body, but no avail. "It's not working! Eric, what do I do?"

Eric struggled to hold back his laughter, and patted his friend reassuringly on the shoulder. Or at least he tried to, only sending his hand through his body. "Well, this is your first time doing a possession like this right? It takes a while for you to get back in if that's the case." He paused, thinking for a moment, "Eventually, she'll run out of energy and you'll return on your own. Until then, the only way back is if she let's you in."

"Okay, so until then, we just have to make sure she doesn't do anything reckless with my body- and she's already gone would you look at that!" He threw up his hands in defeat, staring blankly at the spot where his body had once stood. "This school is huge, how the hell are we supposed to find her?"

"Relax, you can sense your body even in spirit form, it just takes a bit of focus." Eric reassured him, "Man you're lucky you have me here to teach you. Imagine if you tried to figure this out on your own."

Raishun scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Just focus…" He muttered, and suddenly felt a faint presence coming from the direction of the dining hall. "I've got her! Follow me!" He ran after the signal with Eric trailing not too far behind him.

Alisa stirred from her slumber, slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes, letting the blanket fall into her lap. "Oh right, that happened…" She murmured, looking at the gun laying in the tangle of blankets, then at a sleeping Gil by her side. Like a match being struck, a painful spark of memory rushed through her head. It was moving to fast, she couldn't tell what she was seeing, but at the end she saw a splatter of blood, and a deathstalker mask.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, and gave Gil one last look. "You know, when you look kinda cute when you're asleep." She giggled, examining the look of peace on his face, a complete difference from how dark it usually was. She rose out of bed, and picked out a comfortable outfit consisting of a large black t-shirt and some cyan shorts.

After she had finished changing, she made her way into the dining hall, arriving to the sight of a large mass of students crowding around a table. Curious, she pushed her way through the group, and came upon Raishun, devouring enough food to feed at least six people.

He caught her gaze, and finished inhaling a pancake. "Morning Alisa!" He sang with his mouth full, then returned his attention to the food in front of him, eyeing it with a hungry stare. "Food is just so amazing don't you think! The way it feels and tastes!"

"Yeah, it sure is?" Alisa shot him a confused look, but played it off as him just trying to be funny. "I like where your minds at though, we can't train on an empty stomach!" She chirped, taking a seat beside him and stealing some of his food.

"Ooh, you're gonna teach me too!" He smiled brightly and put a finger to his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. "Let me guess, you're gonna teach me marksmanship."

"What gave it away!" She gasped in mock surprise. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a silver revolver and placed it on the table in front of him. "Today we're going to learn how to use this baby right here!"

"Wait, is this a real gun!" Raishun picked up the gun, admiring it in the light. It was black in color, with a long barrel and a similarly colored grip. In the process, he let the barrel of the gun cross over all the people around them, who ducked and raised their voices in protest.

"Okay! You've clearly never held a gun in your life!" Alisa snatched the gun from his hand and stowed it back in her bag. She poked him in the cheek roughly, "Rule one, never let the barrel cross anything you're not willing to destroy, got it?"

"Sorry!" He waved in apology to the crowd, and rose to his feet. "Ah man! It's been ages since I last had some food, I'm so happy I got the chance to eat again!" He grabbed Alisa by the hand and began to drag her along towards the exit. "Come on! I wanna learn how to use that thing!"

Alisa pulled away from him, "Whoa, hold on a minute. I haven't even finished breakfast yet!" She gestured for him to go on without her while looking down at her scroll, a small smile crossing her face. "Besides, Laura's waiting for you outside, I promise I'll show you later if you have time."

"I'll hold you to it!" Raishun pointed at Alisa as he took off running through the halls, passing Eric as he was coming down a staircase.

"Found her!" Eric yelled, reaching out for Serah's shoulder but just missing, causing him to lose his balance. He tumbled to the ground, grunting in pain as his chin smacked against the marble floor. "Raishun don't lose her!"

"Got it!" Raishun cried, running after his body which had just walked out of the building, moving in the direction of the schools garden. "Dammit Serah stop fooling around!"

Serah strolled through the schools garden, looking around for Laura with barely hidden excitement. It was a nice day, the warm Autumn sun bath her in warm light, while the cool breeze kept her from getting too hot. Smiling, she took a deep breath and s sudden spark of pain raced through her injured arm, and she instinctively reached a hand up to cover it. Pain… was something she hadn't felt in a long time, fifty years if memory served her right.

Being a spirit had its advantages. She didn't need to eat in order to survive, couldn't feel anything, and didn't age. But those blessings to her doubled as curses. She couldn't taste her favorite foods while in spirit form, or feel the soft embrace of a loved one. Worst of all, most of the people she had known while alive where now old, or gone.

She shook her head, and pushed her thoughts to the side. "This is no time to be sad, as long as I'm in Raishun's body I'm going to enjoy it!" She murmured, and began her search for Laura once more.

She found her sitting underneath a tree with a small metal box beside her, calmly reading a book while she waited for Raishun. Despite being their day off, she was still dressed in the schools uniform instead of more casual clothing. "Hey Laura!" Serah chirped, stopping about a meter away from the white-haired beauty. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!"

Laura set her book to the side, and looked up at Raishun with a soft smile. "No, I just finished setting up and decided to read for a bit." She pulled the metal box beside her onto her lap, and patted the spot beside her. "I thought it would help to teach you about dust, so that's what we'll do today."

Serah nodded obediently and sat down several feet away from her with her back against the tree, watching intently as she opened the case. Inside were brightly colored crystals, ranging from bright blues and reds, to darker hues of green and purple.

Laura noticed the distance between them, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You don't have to sit so far away Raishun, I don't bite." She scooted closer to Serah until they were shoulder to shoulder. "I'm sure you've noticed, but these are dust crystals, their useful in many aspects of our life." She explained.

Raishun arrived just in time to see Laura scoot closer to Serah. He let out a cry of panic and rushed over to Serahs side. He threw a punch that went right through her, forgetting about his current state in his panic. "Come on! Just get out of my body already!" He pleaded, his eyes darting between his body and Laura. "You can take over another day, just not while Laura's here! I don't want you screwing things up!"

" _Relax, I'm trying to give you a hand. All you two ever do is fight, then kiss and makeup, it's time to switch it up a little."_ She snickered, " _Just watch and learn!"_

Laura held up a dust crystal, and began to explain its properties and uses when Serah reached out and clasped her hands in her own. This caused her to fumble the crystal, as she pulled away from Serah's grasp.

"Hey, be careful with the crystals!" She scolded, "These are dangerous, they can explode if you're not careful!"

Serah put on an apologetic smile, and rubbed the back of her head. "Ah, my bad. I just wanted a closer look." She explained, staring at a fuming Raishun from the corner of her eye.

Laura sighed, and held out the dust for him to inspect. "If you wanted to take a closer look, you could've just asked-"

"Who said I wanted a closer look at the crystals." Serah stated as she subtly moved closer to Laura. "I've never met a person as beautiful as you are Laura."

Laura choked on her words, as she shot Serah a dumbfounded stare. "I'm sorry, wh-what!?"

Raishun covered his face with his hands, and cried out in pain. " _WHAAAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!"_ He began to writhe on the floor, rolling from side to side as he thought of a way out of his newfound situation. " _You have ten seconds to get the hell out of body before I actually kill you! I don't know if you can die, but I swear to god I'll find a way."_ While he was rolling, he caught sight of Gil storming towards them, a dark aura surrounding him. " _Oh shit… I'm gonna die aren't I."_

" _Aw come on, don't be so dramatic."_ Serah smiled confidently, ignoring the pleas of her Ranger. " _Besides, things are going well considering I haven't hit on someone in over fifty years."_

"So… Who wants to tell me exactly what's going on here?" Gil demanded, startling Laura enough that she jumped, and quickly put some distance between her and Raishun.

"NOTHING! Er- I mean, nothing at all Gil." She blurted, doing her best to regain her composure, "I was just teaching Raishun about dust, since he doesn't seem to use it i thought it would be a good addition to his arsenal." Opening her hand, she presented the crystal, as if proving her innocence in the whole ordeal.

"Right…" Gil shot a venomous stare at Serah, and a dark smile spread across his face. "Hey, I just got a great idea. How about you and I have ourselves a little sparring match right here in the garden." In one fluid motion, he drew his sword and hand axe, then combined them into a large scythe. "We don't want you getting rusty after all."

"What a coincidence, I was just thinking we should have a little fight as well." Serah stood and brushed the grass from her pants, then moved across from Gil. Suddenly, she threw her arm out the side, and held her position for a solid minute.

Raishun floated beside her, his eyes nervously darting between his spirit and the angry man in front of them. " _So… What's the plan to not got me killed?"_

" _Just wait a minute."_ She stated calmly, holding her position despite the odd look she garnered from Gil. Sure enough, a minute later, Caligula appeared in her hand, shrouded in an orange flash of light. "Huh, that took longer than I thought."

" _Wait, wait , wait. Since when could we do THAT!"_ Raishun demanded, pointing to the sword that had seemingly materialized out of thin air.

" _Since always I guess."_ Serah shrugged as she gave the sword a few test swings. " _You just seemed to be used to carrying it in a sheath that I assumed you didn't like keeping it in spirit form."_ She pointed the tip of her sword at Gil, and gestured for him to approach. "Hurry up, I don't have all day you know."

"Funny, neither do I!" Gil slowly closed the distance between them, and when the distance was less than a meter, he swung his scythe, aiming to remove Raishuns head from his body."

With a bright smile, Serah did a backwards somersault, dodging his attack and setting herself up. She jumped into the air swinging her sword with her body. The cool metal of the blade bounced off Gils aura as she landed behind him, but she didn't relent, and plunged it into his back. "Man, you really are as slow as you look."

Gil growled, and swatted the sword away, his ears ringing from the blow to his head. "Where were these moves when you were fighting Cardin." He frowned, and readied his scythe for another attack.

"I figured I'd give the audience some drama before I made a last minute comeback. Only I waited too long and had to have Eric bail me out" She rested her blade on her shoulder nonchalantly, motioning for him to attack her again. "Let's see what else you've got."

Gil shot Raishun a dirty look, and charged one more time. This time, he attacked him with a quick flurry of slashes, each time he pulled back, he swung with greater speed and force. But none of his attacks met their mark, as Raishun's blade sang through the air, cutting through each of his attacks with the finesse of someone who had practiced for years.

Serah yawned, covering her mouth with one hand. "Okay, my turn now." She drove her shoulder into him, knocking him off balance and giving her enough time to jump into the air and land on his scythe while it hung in the air. Unfortunately, she overestimated her weight, and ended up pinning it to the ground where she struggled to keep her balance.

"Oh right… Boys body," She muttered.

Sensing an opening, Gil took the opportunity to launch her into the air, catch her with his scythe, and slam her into the ground, creating a flash of yellow light that illuminated the area briefly as her aura failed and her spirit was ejected from Raishun's body. A cloud of dust covered the area, obscuring Raishun's figure. Stepping back, he returned his scythe to its axe and sword modes, sheathing them both as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey, you still alive." He asked, a hopeful look crossing over his face. "Please say no."

Raishun groaned, and pushed himself off the floor. "Serah, you chose a hell of a time to tap out." He muttered.

"Dammit your alive." His hand trailed down to his axe. "Can I finish the job?" He asked hopefully, looking to his cousin who shook her head in objection.

Slowly rising to his feet, he clutched his side in pain. "What the hell Gil, were you trying to kill me."

"...Maybe, but that's beside the point." He raised an eyebrow, and poked him in the chest roughly, "Where did you learn to move like that, those weren't the moves of a rookie like you."

"Oh… Umm…" Raishuns eyes darted around quickly, then settled on Ozpin who was walking towards them, holding his signature mug of coffee. "Hey look, a convenient excuse to abandon this conversation!"

He hobbled over to the new arrival, saluting him casually when he reached the aging professor. "Hey Professor Ozpin, how can I help you this fine evening?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "I'm fine… are you?" He took a tentative sip of coffee as he examined the dust covered Ranger.

"Oh this? It's nothing, I just fell down… a lot… while taking a nice morning stroll." He lied casually.

"If you say so, I was just enjoying a casual stroll myself see." He looked past Raishun's shoulder, and saw his two teammates watching them patiently. "Well. I wouldn't want to keep you from your friends. Have a nice day ." With that, he walked past the trio, and further into the garden out of sight.

A nervous drop of sweat dripped down Raishun's forehead, as he felt Gil's hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"So, you fell down huh." Gil smiled, though there was no happiness behind it, only malice. "I heard some sparring could help you with that."

"Can I object to the sparring and just learn about dust with Laura instead?" He asked hopefully, his voice cracking unintentionally under the pressure.

Gil laughed, and clapped Raishun on the back roughly. "No, no you can't. Now get ready because we're not giving up until you drop my aura." He drew his scythe once more and gestured for him to draw closer. "Now, try not to die okay."


	11. Chapter 10: The Faunus and her Savior

**(Response to Reviews)**

 **Raishun and Laura sat together at a desk, in front of them was Gil working on a camera with quiet determination. After a minute, he gave them a thumbs up, and a calm smile spread across the pairs faces.**

" **Hey, what's up readers! Looks like someone decided to drop a review on our story!" Raishun cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "So here we are responding to it, kinda feels like a radio show doesn't it?" He rested his head in his hand and looked at Laura.**

 **She let out a sigh of relief and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "I'm relieved that people take the time out of their day to read our story. And I'll admit, it does feel a bit like one." Reaching a hand into her pocket, she fished out a slip of paper and unfolded it. "Back on topic, we have our first review." Clearing her throat, she began to read it outloud. "What would you do, if you woke up as the Doomguy?"**

" **Oh I know him! That guys super cool!" Raishun perked up, a look of excitement dawning on his face.**

" **Sorry, but I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting this, Doomguy, yet." She rested her arms on the desk in front of them, and turned to look at her partner. "But it seems like you know about him, why don't you go ahead and answer this one."**

" **Well he's super strong, so I'd probably start off by killing a Grimm or a Demon or something like that!" He slammed a fist into his palm with a wide grin, "That man's a one man army for crying out loud! And if I was him I'd finally be the hero I've always dreamt of being!"**

" **Oh… That's quite the noble, albeit violent, plan you've got there…" Laura laughed nervously, and began to slowly scoot away from the daydreaming Ranger. "Are you sure we don't need to get you some mental help?"**

" **You kidding! That man literally went to hell willingly, just to kill things. AND HE LIVED!" Raishun looked down at his own hands, "Not only would I be unstoppable, but I'd be able to get so many chicks with how badass I'd be."**

" **Not all girls find mindless violence attractive you know." She huffed, looking away and staring off into space, "Some of us like a refined man, well versed in both the arts of combat and romance." She blinked abruptly, and coughed, regaining her composure. "The more you describe this Doomguy, the less I like him. He's starting to sound more barbaric by the second."**

" **Aw come on Laura, he's awesome!" Raishun began to repeadtily pound a fist into the palm of his hand, trying to mimic one of the executions he had seen in game. "I once saw the guy crush a demon's skull with a single punch."**

" **And that ends all the time we have for today." Laura said in a formal tone, by now she had moved to the head of the desk, as far away from her teammate as possible. "Please be sure to leave any questions for us on teams Regalia or Emerald and we'll have them answered for you. In the meantime, we're going to get Raishun psychologically evaluated, I think the idea of being this Doomguy is going to his head."**

 **She waved at the camera with a bright smile, ignoring the commotion behind her as Gil began to drag a struggling Raishun away. He began to yell something about, 'Unlimited Power' but she coughed into her hand to drown out the noise, "Please enjoy the next chapter of our story, until next time!" She looked past the camera and gestured for someone to come towards them, "Alisa we need you're sleep darts, now please!"**

 **(One month since the events of the last chapter)**

"Good morning students of Beacon." Professor Ozpin's voice emanated from the loudspeakers that dotted the campus grounds. "I apologize for interrupting your precious class time, but could teams Regalia and Emerald please report to my office as soon as possible. I have an important matter I wish to discuss with you." A cheery jingle played, signaling that the headmaster had finished his message.

"Trust me, you're not interrupting anything important." Raishun muttered under his breath while he leaned back in his chair lazily. Professor Port was in the middle of yet another over exaggerated stories from his youth. He set all four legs of his chair back on the floor and looked at his equally bored teammates. "Can one of you guys wake Alisa up, I don't want her to try and kill me."

He shot a worried look at the sleeping huntress beside him as he spoke. Lately she had been waking up in the middle of the night, gasping for breath from what he assumed were night terrors What worried him the most was the fact that whenever he asked her about her nightmares, she could never remember what they were about.. He was unsure if any of his other teammates had noticed as well, but he never found a good time to bring up the subject.

"Fine, leave it to me." Gil grumbled, shutting the novel he was reading and slipping it into his chest pocket. With a rentative hand, he reached out and poked Alisa in the cheek twice, jerking his hand back after each poke. "Rise and shine sleeping beauty, the boss wants to talk to us."

"Nrgh, just five more minutes please." She slurred, still half asleep. She brushed his hand away, and turned her head so he couldn't poke her cheek. "If it's important, you can tell me what he wanted when you guys get back."

"Alright, just make sure you don't get caught sleeping okay." Gil gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Pushing his worry aside, he rose to his feet and began to lead the remainder of Team Regalia out the door, and towards Ozpin's office.

"Hey," Laura, tapped on Raishun's shoulder to catch his attention as they entered an elevator. "I know you and Eric haven't been on the best of terms since that weekend when you sparred with Gil. But you should try to settle your differences before we enter Ozpin's office, I don't think he'll be as tolerant of your bickering as I've been."

Raishun put on a smile to try and ease her worry. "Relax, I'm not gonna do anything rash or stupid." He leaned against the wall of the elevator, and shrugged nonchalantly, "Besides, I can totally beat Eric in a fight and we all know it."

The elevator doors opened to reveal the waiting room outside the headmasters office. Only they weren't the only ones there, as Team Emerald waited for them to arrive patiently. Eric stood closest to the elevator's open doors, with two girls and one other boy sitting in nearby chairs.

Eric pulled the hood of his trench coat low over his face, scowling as he saw Regalia exit the elevator. " _He's gonna say something stupid isn't he."_

"What's up you bastard!" Raishun yelled, charging at Eric and throwing a punch that the hooded leader dodged with ease. WIth a growl of frustration, he grabbed Eric by the shoulder and pulled him into a choke hold. "What was up with you leaving me to get the crap kicked out of me by Gil when Serah took over my body." He hissed, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn't overhear their conversation, "Do you have any idea how long I fought Gil for? THREE. HOURS. And the whole time he was kicking my ass while i barely got any hits in."

"I already told you over a dozen times, I got tired of chasing after your spirit, and went home." Eric sighed in irritation and broke free of the choke hold, "But if you're looking to get your ass kicked, then you've come to the right person."

"Go ahead and try it! I'm twice as strong as I was when you first fought me!" He beamed, taking up a fighting stance. "I dare you to pull that sickle crap a second time just so you'll see what happens."

"That's funny, the last time I checked two times zero is still zero you dumb ass!" Eric gloated, watching in amusement as Raishun flinched, and glared at him with anger.

Thankfully for the others, Gil stepped in before things could escalate. He grabbed Raishun by his waist and began to drag him towards the door to Ozpin's office. "Come on, Laura gave you one job and you already blew it."

One of the girls from Eric's team stepped closer to the struggling Raishun. She had short and spiky brown hair that stood up at the sides of her head, and freckles that dotted her cheeks. Her green eyes examined his features, as a bright smile crossed her face. "Huh, you weren't kidding when you said he got riled up easily."

Laura sighed, and walked past all the commotion. "If you boys could stop fighting for just a moment, the headmasters waiting for us." She gripped the metal door handle, and looked over her shoulder at the warring teams. "He did say it was important."

The girl looked up for a moment and nodded at Laura. "Alright, but Eric you're horrible at describing people." She stepped back and dug her finger into Eric's cheek. "The way you described him made him sound like some sort of arrogant delinquent. But you never told me he was cute."

"Huh? How the hell was I supposed to tell if he was cute? I'm a guy dammit!" Eric demanded, shoving away her hand with a look of irritation. Raising a hand, he flicked her forehead, causing the brunette to recoil in pain. "And for future reference, I'd be careful saying things like that around-"

The sound of wrenching metal resounded through the room, causing the two teams to jump and look at the door. The metal handle on one of Ozpin's door had been crushed and misshapen in Laura's hand. She slowly turned around to face the group once more, a fake smile appeared on her face as she did nothing to hide the malicious aura that radiated off her.

"I said we're here." She said coldly, opening the door and stepping to the side as the group quickly rushed past her into the safety of Ozpin's office. When the brunette tried to walk through the door, Laura clamped a hand down on her shoulder, stopping her dead in her tracks. "Hey, do you mind if I talk to you for a minute. It won't be long." She asked, slowly closing the door behind her.

Meanwhile, the others breathed a sigh of relief inside the room, their missing teammates going unnoticed. Sitting comfortably at his desk, Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he nodded at the group in front of him. "I'm glad you all were able to make it on such short notice." Standing from his desk, he began to pace around the office with his iconic cane in hand. "I have a bit of an assignment for you all." He explained, "There's a small village not too far from our campus that provides us with food, and other goods we may need to keep this establishment running." Without looking behind him, he slid a hand into his pocket.

A second later, a blue screen fizzled into existence above his desk. On it, there was a photo of the village in question. The houses were made of logs, with cobblestone paths marking what they assumed was the town square.

"Unfortunately, we lost contact with recently." He said grimly, turning his gaze onto the students before him. "And despite our best efforts to re-establish communications, we've had no response."

"Alright, alright, we get the point." The boy on Eric's team retorted, doing little to hide his impatience. His short cropped blonde hair was a mess, and his tired blue eyes pierced the headmaster with a tired stare. "The important village went quiet, what do you want us to do about it?"

"I want you all to go investigate what happened. To find out why we lost happened." Ozpin stated, unfazed by the disrespect the blonde boy had shown him. "Be warned , I have a suspicion that the White Fang may have something to do with this." His gaze suddenly narrowed, and he banged his cane on the ground. "If you encounter any members of their group, i want you all to run. Under no circumstances are you to engage them, this is not a practice fight like the ones you've had on our campus." He looked over all of them, "If you fight them… they will kill you."

The students all nodded in response, the atmosphere in the room growing cold. The reality began to set in, if they weren't careful, it would cost them their lives.

The headmaster let out a tired sigh, and returned to his seat. Pressing a button on his cane, the rod collapsed into the handle, which he placed on his desk. "Now, I know that this operation may take you away from your studies for a day or two." He reached for his mug and raised it to his lips as he eyed his students, "If you do this for me, I'll inform your instructors that you're all exempt from homework and class for a week. You can consider it a vacation of sorts, if you so wish." He leaned forward, resting his chin in one hand and gesturing to them with the other. "So, do we have a deal?"

"On behalf of team Regalia, and Laura who is missing for some reason…" Raishun spoke up, looking around briefly for his missing partner, "We accept this mission, just tell us when we head out."

"Team Emerald will also assist in this assignment." Eric added, standing up straighter and nodding at the headmaster, "We look forward to your orders."

"Hmm, in that case you can all leave now. I've already arranged for transportation to take you to your objective." He waved the students off with a small smile, then leaned back in his chair once they were out the door. "I just hope Herba doesn't take it too far…"

The group closed the door behind them, and saw Laura and the girl huddled next to each other, whispering under their breaths. Laura patted the girl on the shoulder and flashed a small smile, then let her go when she saw Raishun.

"Hey, about what I said before…" She said nervously, her eyes glued to the floor as she walked close to him. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes tightly before speaking. "I take back what I said! You're the most barbaric person I've ever met you womanizer!"

"Gah!" Raishun took a step backward, his body recoiling as if he had been hit. "Where the hell did that come from? Was it something I said?!"

The girl turned on her heel and began to walk away quickly. "Come on Eric, we're leaving!" She ordered, spamming the elevator button with her finger.

Eric shrugged, and gestured for the rest of his team to follow. They filed into the elevator, and left team Regalia alone to comfort their leader.

Gil sat on his bed, his hands busy with maintenancing his weapon. He paused for a minute and held the scythe up to the light, "Perfect." He slide them into the sheath on his lower back and turned to talk to his cousin, only to see her pull a metal briefcase from under her bed. She was already fully clad in her combat outfit, with her twin blades resting at her hips. "What's in the case?" He asked, kneeling beside her.

"Gil! This is nothing, just a new combat outfit I ordered of the internet!" She blurted, and tried to shove the case back underneath her bed.

Gil quickly placed his hand on the case and slid it towards himself. "Why would you need a second? The one you have right now works perfectly fine." Flicking open the clasps, he opened the case. Sure enough, there was a combat outfit inside, only it wasn't in her size. "Funny, this outfit is meant for guys."

"That's because… Oh fine, it's for Raishun," She admitted in a low voice, "Don't you think it's a bad idea for him to go out wearing just a dress shirt and a slab of leather? Even Jaune has more armor than him, and Raishun's so fragile his aura breaks after one or two good hits."

"He's been fine so far." He let out a frustrated sigh, and threw on his purple jacket. "You didn't have to go out of your way just to make sure he's alright. If anything that's his own damned job."

"But he's a member of our team! I don't want-… We don't want him getting hurt out there!" She hissed, snatching the briefcase from his hands and shutting it with a loud clack.

Gil frowned, and looked at the Ranger from the corner of his eye. For a moment, the thought of bashing him in the back of the head with his scythe crossed his mind. But the repercussions from Laura would be too much to handle, so he let the idea go with a defeated sigh. He hung his head in defeat, and looked at his cousin, "Just make sure you're not late to the bullhead. Come on Alisa." He stood and walked out of the room, with Alisa following not far behind him.

Laura waited until she heard the sound of the door close behind the pair before she moved. Taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet and walked over to Raishun, who was practicing summoning and storing his weapon. "Here!" She held the case out in front of his face, "This is for you."

"O-oh! Thanks, what's the occasion?" He smiled, taking the briefcase and setting it on his lap. "I hope it's candy."

"It's something better than that." She smiled proudly, "I noticed that you always go into fights wearing little to no armor. Which is ideal for someone with a large amount of aura, but might be a problem for someone as fragile- I mean, low in defense as you." She stumbled over her own words, wincing as she realized she'd accidentally insulted him. "And with our first few months at school past us, I decided that an update to your wardrobe was appropriate."

Her words stung, but they did have truth to them. Having no aura and being on the front line without any meaningful defense could get him killed. He nodded in agreement, and opened the case in his hands to reveal a brand new combat outfit. "Whoa, Laura I don't know what to say!"

"A thank you would be a start." She giggled, waving him off towards the bathroom, "What are you standing around for? Go try it on!"

"Oh Right!" He ducked into the bathroom, briefcase in hand, "Thanks a ton Laura!" He said from inside, followed by the sound of the door locking behind him.

" _Nice job me! He loved it!"_ She threw herself on her bed and buried her face in the pillow. She stayed there for five minutes, basking in the warm glow of her accomplishment, "Strange… he should be out by now." She murmured under her breath, and sat up. She walked over to the door, and raised her hand to knock when it swung open, forcing her step back as Raishun walked out.

He was wearing a long black synthetic coat with golden accents at the hem and collar. The tips of jacket grazed his knees and parted in the back, slightly obscuring the brown belt around his waist. He was still wearing a dress shirt, only this one was light grey in color, and restricted his movement less than its predecessor had. Blue slacks provided easy movement, along with a pair of brown combat boots, the eyelets of which were made of a shiny copper. Tying the whole outfit together, was a white bandanna with black diamond patterns that sat around his neck.

Raishun scratched his cheek, shooting her a nervous look. "Well… What do you think?" He tapped the toe of his boot against the ground, and folded the jackets collar. "It's not too fancy for me is it?"

Laura stared at him silently, her gaze unflinching as a light red tint spread across her cheeks. "..."

Her gaze began to make him uncomfortable, forcing him to look away in embarrassment, "H-Hey, come on! At least say something would you!?"

"Y-yeah! It looks good on you." She shook her head and coughed into her hand, regaining her composure. A glint of metal from behind his shoulder caught her eye, and looking past him, she saw a shiny metal chest plate sitting on the sink. "Aren't you going to put on your chest plate?" She asked, a hint of worry creeping into her voice. "Was it not to your liking?"

"No, no, it was great! I just… don't know how to put it on." He confessed, hiding his face in his hands. "There are just so many straps and buckles compared to my old one."

Laura laughed, breaking into a wide smile as she doubled over. "I thought that might have been the case. You can be so clueless sometimes,"

Raishun stared at her, a light blush appearing on his face. It didn't take long for Serah to make her presence known from his mind.

" _Did your heart just skip a beat!?"_ Serah said mischievously, " _Aww that's so cute Raishun, you're even blushing."_

Laura wiped a tear from her eye and pointed to his bed. "Have a seat and I'll help you put it on, so lose the jacket."

He pushed Serah's words from his mind, and followed Laura's instructions. Folding his jacket over the foot of the bed, he took a seat with his back to the huntress, who began to tighten the straps and buckles with speed that could only be acquired through years of practice.

"I'm surprised you don't know how to do these, it's one of the first things they teach you to do at school." She commented, finishing up the buckles on one side and moving to the other. "You weren't skipping class back then were you?"

"No, I've just always worn light armor that wasn't as complicated as this. I like to be able to move fast without anything heavy slowing me down, so I never saw any point in branching out." He stared at the wall, counting the amount of bumps and ridges he saw in his head. "It's funny though, these clothes are a perfect fit. How did you figure out what size I was-"

"IRRELEVANT!" Laura choked, accidentally tightening the straps too much, causing Raishun to wince in pain as the metal dug into his side. Startled, she released the straps, relieving the pressure on his side. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, are you okay!"

"I'm fine, these things happen sometimes," He stood up, noticing a shift in his balance from the added weight. Making a mental note of the fact, he turned to Laura, with his hands resting on his hips. "Well, what do you think now?"

Laura went looked away as she felt her cheeks heat up. Choosing to ignore his question and grabbing the last of her gear from her own bed. "Come on, we have to go or we'll be late." She blurted, hurrying past him and speed walking out the door before he could respond.

"Whoa, were you blushing? Laura wait up!" Raishun yelled, running after her.

The hatch of the bullhead opened, amplifying the sound of rain pelting against its hull. The Rangers from each team stood, and looked out at the vast expanse of trees before them, pits forming in their stomachs as they knew something was wrong. There was no sound of screaming children, or the busy sound of a market, only the sound of wind whistling through the trees and the pitter patter of rain on the floor were present.

Pulling the waterproof cloaks that they were provided by the ships pilot, both teams jumped the ten feet to the ground and waved at the pilot as their only way home flew away.

"Well, I guess a formal introduction is in order." He gestured to his team, who all stood beside him, "I know we've all met each other at Ozpin's office, but in order, these are Marissa, Liz, and Damien,"

A girl with flowing blonde hair, and pink eyes shot Team Regalia a smile and waved. She was decked out in a buttoned up blue winter coat, with white fur around the collar and silver patterns that danced around her shoulders in the shape of grape vines. Her black pants seemed a bit baggy on her form, in order to accommodate the three brown belts that clung tightly to her hips and thighs. Each belt housed around ten knives, spaced around an inch or two apart. "It's nice to meet you!" She chirped.

"H-... Hey there guys!" The girl who had previously hit on Raishun spoke up. "Long time no see huh…" She let out a nervous laugh, her eyes darting around as if she was trying to avoid Raishun's gaze. She was wearing a green skintight suit, which covered her entire body. Over it, were several pieces of black armor on her chest, shoulders, arms, and legs. On her thigh, rested a piece of metal in the shape of a lollipop.

That left Damien, who turned out to be the same blonde haired boy who had insulted Ozpin in his office. He was clad in a simple red hoodie and a pair of grey pants with a black bag hanging off his hip. Despite his laid back appearance, the great sword that hung from his back gave off a bit of a dangerous aura.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Laura stated politely, glancing over each of Erics teammates. She gestured to her own team in a manner similar to what he had done, "These are Gil, Raishun, and Alisa. We look forward to working closely with you on this assignment."

"All right! Let's get moving guys, we don't want to miss dinner do we?" Liz grinned widely as she began to lead the group down a nearby path. "I heard we're having steak tonight so if we hurry we can get the good cuts"

With the added motivation, the group began to make their way towards the village. The cold rain beating down on them kept them from moving fast, which gave them all a chance to get to know each other.

"So I'm curious," Damien piped up from the middle of the group, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head in an attempt to keep his hair dry. "If we're gonna be working together, wouldn't it be better to reveal our semblances to each other? That way if we get in a fight, we can coordinate together,"

"Ooh! Me first!" Alisa chirped, throwing a hand in the air to get everyone's attention "I can make bullets out of leftover dust particles in the area." To demonstrate, she formed a bullet in her raised hand for all to see "I can choose what type of bullet it is too! Like healing and traps!"

"I don't have a semblance." Gil lied, pulling his cap lower over his face. For some odd reason he still had it on despite their cloaks protecting their bodies from the rain

"You liar, we all heard you sing at the fight." Marissa walked up to his side, matching his pace as they walked "It was so beautiful, like going to a show… Can I have your autograph?"

"Huh? Uh- I mean…" A cold shiver ran down his spine as he felt Eric's eyes drill into his back " _So this is how Raishun feels when I do this.."_ He thought, looking towards his cousin with a hopeful look in his eyes.

Laura saw him in distress, and with a sigh decided to speak up "I believe that my semblance will be useful on this mission" Reaching a hand inside her coat pocket, she pulled out a small silver rod, that when shaken, expanded into a full size spear. Catching Raishun's attention with a tap to the shoulder, she gestured for him to run as she pulled her arm back to throw.

With a curt nod, Raishun ran down the path for about five seconds before he heard something whizz past his ear and bury itself into the ground to his left. "I'm sorry, but did you just throw a spear at me!? Why did I even listen- UGH!" he grunted in pain as his body began to feel heavier. He fell to one knee, and struggled to rise as wet footsteps echoed behind him. It was only when Laura plucked the spear from the ground that the pressure disappeared, and he was able to stand correctly "What the hell was that!" He demanded, brushed the mud from his cloak.

"My semblance. It lets me control gravity in a small area but it takes a lot of focus to maintain" She held up the spear and gave it a shake, collapsing it down into its rod form before pocketing it. "When I use this I don't have to focus as hard"

"My turn!" Liz interrupted the two by holding her hand palm up in between the pair. She focused for a second, and in the center of her palm a small blue hexagonal square appeared. "I can make walls that can block attacks, but stuff can still pass through it if I want" Without stopping for a breath, she pointed a finger at Eric who was several paces behind her. "You've already seen his semblance when he and Raishun fought, but there's this really cool second-"

Eric dashed forward and gently placed a hand over her mouth, causing the rest of her words to come out muffled and unintelligible "I think that's enough talking for now," Eric said calmly, though Raishun could've sworn he saw a brief moment of panic flash in his eyes when she said the word _second_ "Besides, I think we've arrived."

Sure enough, their objective lay ahead of them. But as they walked into the town square, first impressions weren't good. Scorch marks littered the ground, and most of the buildings had either crumbled to pieces or had large gashes in the stone. By far the most frightening part had to be the many blood stains that dotted the ground every few meters

Raishun felt bile rise in his throat, as he stared in shock at the state of the village "What… what happened here…. The people." Choking back the bile, he summoned his sword to his hand and instantly felt his panic fade away, no doubt Serah had just used his fear as fuel for possession.

"This is what happens when you live outside the city's walls." Eric said grimly, examining the sight before him with calmly. He drew his halberd from his back and began to walk forward, stepping through puddles of blood as if it were rainwater. "We'll split off into pairs and search the city. Stay on your guard, if you run into any trouble to be afraid to call for help." He looked at the group behind him from the corner of his eye, "And make sure to kill any of Grimm bastards you find."

Raishun grimaced as he and Laura combed the blood soaked streets of the city, anxious to find any trace of the villagers. The lack of bodies in the area disturbed him, and he shuddered to think what Grimm had done to the bodies. A nearby building with the door still intact caught his attention, rushing over, he tried the doorknob only to find it was locked. Without hesitating he kicked it down, and regret instantly swept through his body. The mangled remains of what used to be a family lay before him, they had died together trying to hide. For the fifth time that day he clasped a hand over his mouth to try and stop the bile from rising in his throat.

" _Breathe Raishun, breathe."_ Serah instructed, her voice ringing in his head. " _Just give me one second and it'll all be over."_

Calm instantly spread throughout his body, the fear he had felt melting away into nothingness. " _Thanks, are you sure you're okay though? This is the fifth time you've done this today."_

" _I'm fine."_ she replied, her voice unusually calm. " _I can keep this up all day… but don't force yourself to go through with this. I've seen people go crazy from looking at these things too much."_

Laura noticed him hunched over the door, and rushed to his side. "Raishun what's wrong, do you need to take a break?"

Moving quickly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the house. "Don't go in there," He let go of her hand once they were far enough away and shook his head solemnly. "You don't want to see what happened."

Laura opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when she saw the grim look on his face. "Okay, let's go back to the square. We have a good enough idea of what happened here."

The two hadn't taken more than a step when Laura turned her head towards a nearby alley. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" He listened closely, but all he could hear was the rain beating down on his hood. "I can't hear anything, are you sure it's not just the rain?"

Laura closed her eyes to focus, and just managed to hear a faint sob emanate from the alley. "I knew it, there's something in the alley." She broke into a sprint, leaving her partner behind as she entered the alley. When she reached the end of the alley, she saw a small girl cowering in fear.

The girl was a mess… she was wearing a tattered green hoodie and shorts with mud covering her exposed legs and a thin red streak of what looked like blood running down her cheek. had her hands covering the top of her head, shivering in fear and cold while curled up into a ball.

"Hey there," Laura said softly, kneeling by the girl. "My name's Laura, I'm here to save you."

The girl lifted her head and acknowledged the presence before her. Crimson eyes studied Laura closely, before she quickly backed further into her corner, kicking at the huntress.

Raishun reunited with his partner, and noticed the small girl in the corner. "You found one!" He moved closer to Laura and knelt beside her, examining the small girl.

"Don't be rude. Introduce yourself at least." She smacked him in the arm gently, causing the girl to back away once more. "Poor thing, she must be so afraid."

He nodded, "I'm Raishun, we're not gonna hurt you." Slowly, he extended a hand for her to take. "We're gonna get you out of here."

The girl tentatively reached a hand out, and took his with both hands, revealing what she had been holding. Two small fox ears poked out from the top of her head, twitching uncomfortably in the rain.

Laura began to notice there was something off about the child, her hair was black on the left and white on the right. Red streaks ran throughout her hair, and the back of her ears. What she thought was blood on her face turned out to be a red streak like the one on her hair, that ran down the bottom of her eye and ended in a red ring around her neck.

Shoving her suspiciouns to the side, Laura approached her once more. "Do you have a name sweetie?" Copying Raishun's move, she reached a hand out for her to grab, only for the girl to almost bite down on it.

"Hey!" Laura whipped her hand back at the last second, holding it close to her body.

"Relax!" Raishun moved between the two, and slipped the cloak of his shoulders. "You're cold right? This'll help keep the rain off ya." He fastened it around the girl and took her hand to lead her out of the alley. "Do you have a name sweetie? Where's your family?"

"My name's Morgan…" She whispered, pulling the coat around her tighter and going quiet.

"That's a pretty name Morgan." He said as they walked out of the alley and returned to the street. Shooting Laura a confused look, he whispered under his breath, "What'd you do to piss her off?"

"I don't know? All I did was reach out to her like you did." She replied, just as confused as he was. "What matters is that she likes you at least. You keep her moving while I focus on protecting us."

Eric sat on the edge of the fountain, sighing as the group reported that besides Morgan, there had been no other survivors. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Grimm razed the place." His eyes causally wandered to pool of blood nearby, watching ripples appear from the pouring rain. "They never stood a chance."

"How can you be so calm about all this?" Damien rubbed his shoulders and looked at the destruction before them. "I know we've seen some shit, but this creeps me out."

"I don't wanna know." Liz but in, her eyes drifting to the sleeping faunus girl resting her head against Raishun's side. Ever since they'd found her in that alley, Morgan had refused to let go of his hand. The girls had tried to care for her, but she would just hide behind the Ranger who found her each time they approached.

"I'll go call a bullhead to get us out of here." She sighed and gestured for Alisa to follow her into a nearby building. "They'll be happy to know we found at least one survivor out here."

Laura sat next to Morgan, and began to stroke her head softly. "Poor girl, I wouldn't know how to cope if I was in her shoes." She said sadly, "What are we going to do with her? We don't know anything except her name, for all we know her family could be… well, gone."

"I don't know." Raishun replied miserably, he was completely soaked. Each drop of rain that hit him felt like a tiny knife was burying itself in his skin. "But Ozpin can figure something out, I know he can." He sneezed, "Ugh, how did Morgan deal with this damned rain for so long."

Laura undid her cloak and moved next to him. She pressed herself against his arm and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, draping a piece of her cloak over his head in an attempt to keep him out of the rain. "This is just to keep you dry okay. Nothing else." She said, looking out into the forest with a straight face.

"Right." He smiled, her presence calming him after all he'd been through that day. The rain suddenly didn't seem so bad to him anymore.

The sound of a window breaking drew their attention. The hunters turned their heads and saw Alisa leaning out of the freshly broken window, a look of panic on her face. "We've got Grimm coming, from the forest!" She yelled, readying the bipod on her gun.

Gil flicked his scythe open as the others started to prepare. He looked at his cousin, "Get Morgan into Alisa's house, and make sure she doesn't come out while we're fighting." He turned and began to run after Team Emerald who had gone towards the forests edge to investigate. "Come find us when you're done."

Laura nodded and scooped Morgan up in her arms, startling the girl awake as she sprinted into the house. The faunus began to struggle as they passed through the door, she kicked and punched at Laura until she set her down in a bedroom.

"What are we doing in here!?" She asked in a panicky voice, eyeing the huntress suspiciously and backing away. "Don't hurt me!"

"We're not going to hurt you." Laura stated kindly, shutting the blinds on the window, "But there are things out there that will, so I need you to stay in here and don't come out for anyone but me or Raishun okay?"

Morgan simply nodded, and curled up in a small ball on the bed.

"Thank you Morgan." She stated, and ran out of the room, anxious to rejoin her team

Eric and Raishun stood together at the front of the group, the edge of the forest was bustling with movement as what seemed like a hundred beowulf circled the village.

"So, what's our game plan?" Raishun asked, eyeing the forest with hidden anxiety.

"Don't die, protect the house," Eric let his halberd disappear in a flash of red light and summoned his sickle in its stead. "And hopefully make it back in time for dinner."

"Fair enough," he chuckled, "Though I don't think I'll be able to stomach anything after everything I've seen."

Suddenly, Grimm burst through the trees in a stream of black and white. There were so many that Raishun wouldn't have enough time to count them all before they reached them. Their sheer numbers forced the group back into the square to avoid fighting all of them at once.

Just as the Grimm were about to crash into them, their advance was halted by hundreds of black needles that sprung from the ground. The needles impaled the Grimm, launching some unfortunate ones into the air before they disintegrated. In mere seconds the army of monsters had been reduced to dust before their eyes.

"D-did I do that?" Raishun inspected his weapon curiously, "I didn't know I could do that."

"No," Damien stepped in front of him and pointed to the roof of a nearby building. "I'm pretty sure it was him,"

A large pool of black shadow spread across the slanted roof of the building, slowly, a hooded figure rose out of the pool with a blue spear in hand. "Hey there kids, you shouldn't be here you know."


	12. Chapter 11: Rise

Raishun stared up at the figure on the rooftop with a mix of awe and fear. The chill running down his spine urged him not to speak, but he forced his instincts back enough to force a fake smile to appear on his face. Sheathing his weapon, he began to approach the stranger before him, "Man, you really saved us back there. How about we treat you to dinner back on campus as thanks."

The figure silently dropped down from the rooftop and continued to stare at the group without saying a word, causing the sense of unease in Raishun to grow.

"Thank god Ozpin sent you," He continued to speak with a calm relaxed tone, though his tensed body betrayed his true emotions to the figure before him. "You've gotta tell me though, where did you learn to fight like that."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a black dot begin to grow on the muddy ground to his left. Sensing the danger he was in, he backstabbed just in time to avoid being impaled by a large spike that erupted from the ground.

"Okay! So you're not friendly after all." He spat, rejoining his team and conjuring his Imperial Arm, which he pointed at the stranger with an air of animosity, "So why the hell did you bother saving us if you just wanted to kill us yourself."

"That sword you hold belongs to me," The figure pointed at the Caligula, then clenched their fist, causing dozens of spikes to rise from the ground around her. "It's easier to kill you and take it for myself than have it reject me when I pick it off whatever the Grimm leave behind."

"Caligula chose me to be its wielder, not you." He pointed the tip of the sword at her and activated his semblance. "It's gonna take more than an edgy bastard like you to make me give it up."

"He's right!" Gil added, mimicking Raishun by pointing his scythe at the figure as well. "If you want the sword so bad then you'll have to pry it from his cold dead hands!"

"What a wonderful idea your teammate just gave me." The figure taunted. She gripped the edge of her cloak and threw it off, revealing her blue spear and Deathstalker mask. The spear in her hands spun through the air in an intricate pattern, it's sharp tip ended up pointing at the group of hunters in front of her. "Looks like none of you are getting out of this place alive."

"Gil, what the hell!" Raishun turned and shot his teammate a dirty look, "You ratted me out you son of a bitch!"

"Shut it will you, you're the one who always gets to say the heroic crap." He scoffed, brushing aside the whining Ranger. "Besides, it's eight on one. There's no way we're losing this."

All too conveniently, a Deathstalker came rushing out from the trees to the figures back with a loud screech. It's beady eyes settled on the figure as if deciding if what it was looking at was prey.

The figure didn't offer the creature the opportunity to finish thinking things through. Dropping to one knee, they reached a hand out behind them with a small orb of red beginning to form in the palm of their hand. Without a sound, their hand jerked upwards as the orb flew into the Grimm's body.

The unfortunate Grimm began to writhe in agony as it's white exoskeleton was quickly replaced by pieces of black plate metal. The joints in its legs and tail began to glow with a red light as they became mechanized. Saws took the place of claws, and glowing crystalline red orbs took the place of its eyes. When the process was complete, it was more machine than Grimm, an abomination caused by the power of the figure.

Marissa took several steps backward, her eyes were wide with fear at what she had witnessed. "What did she do to it…" Her hands nervously twirled her knives at her sides, and her knees began to shake as the thought of running away crossed her mind.

Sensing his partner's discomfort, Eric placed a hand on her reassuringly and moved in between her and the corrupted Grimm. "I'm guessing it's part of her semblance, but that's not important." He adopted a fighting stance, his sword pointed at the new addition to their enemy's ranks. "What matters is that we take this thing down! Let's get some covering fire, Alisa!"

There was no response from their sniper, instead all the group could hear over their earpieces was heavy breathing.

"No… nononononono…"

"Alisa? Alisa what's wrong!?" Gil pressed a finger against his ear, worry quickly replacing his usually calm expression. "Alisa are you okay? Come on, talk to us!"

"Get away… GET AWAY FROM ME!"

A series of loud cracks filled the air as bullets began to tear through the air towards the figure, only to be easily deflected by a few deft twirls of her spear.

"Alisa talk to me! Please!" Gil pleaded desperately, "Just give me a sign that you're okay.

His requests were answered when a bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the town square, followed quickly by more gunfire that would never reach its target.

The scream was all Gil needed to lose his nerve. With grit teeth, he turned tail and charged towards the building where Alisa was stationed. When he reached the entrance, he nearly slammed into Liz, who seemed to be leaving in a hurry. "What happened? Is Alisa okay!?"

"I- I don't know! She just saw that person and completely freaked out." Reaching a hand up, she clutched the side of her head with a pained grimace, "There was nothing I could do… I freaked out and-"

"It's fine, just go fight with the others. I'll take care of her." He blurted before dashing into the building, leaving the guilt-ridden girl to rejoin the group in the middle of the square.

By the time she had reached the group, Raishun and Eric had already rushed forward to attack the figure before them. The two attacked in unison from two different directions, intending to cleave their foe in two before they got a chance to react.

The figure, seemingly unfazed by the two let out a tired sigh and effortlessly dodged all of their attacks. "Is that all you two can muster?" They let out an audible yawn through their mask. "Because if that's the case, then I should show you how to really fight." The lance in their hand became wreathed in blue flames as she went on the offensive. With each swipe of her spear, the flames would rise into the air and threaten to blind the two Rangers, forcing them on the defensive.

As if sensing the plight of its master, the mutated Grimm let out a war screech and rushed the group, the sawblades in its arms revving up. It swung an arm at the group, only to clang against Damien's greatsword, sending sparks flying into the air.

With a swipe of his hand, he summoned a set of golden armor that appeared on his body. "Don't just stand there, give me a hand." He reached out his hand and gripped one of the sawblades and began to slowly push it back with a grunt of effort. "My armor won't hold for long against this bastard!"

As if on cue, the deathstalker's tail darted forward, striking him in the stomach and knocking him off his feet. The tip on its tail seemed to collapse back on itself to reveal a red light glowing from inside. With a high pitched squeal, a small burst of red energy shot forward, propelling the hunter into the fountain.

Luckily for Damien, his armor had absorbed most of the damage, but it had still cracked under the attack. He shakily rose to his feet and began to walk back towards the deathstalker. "Aren't you forgetting someone."

While it had been focused on him, it failed to notice Laura and Marissa who had both snuck behind it. The duo began to attack its tail in an attempt to shatter the armor that protected it. But it was too thick, and their blades clanged off the blackened armor with little effect.

With their cover blown the Deathstalker spun in a circle, using its tail to swipe the hunters aside like leaves in the wind. Marissa was able to recover from the attack by throwing a knife into a nearby tree and teleporting to safety. The other two weren't as lucky, crashing into a heap in the mud with the wind knocked out of them.

"Damn…" Laura cursed under her breath as she rose to her feet and helped Damien rise to his own as well. "Its armor is too thick to cut through, but it's also layered on top of each other like plates. If we can find a way to expose what's underneath we can hurt it!"

"And how do you propose we do that? By asking nicely." Eric spat, narrowly dodging a stab from the figure, "We're facing more than one enemy right now, and this weirdo's nothing to joke about. So we can't exactly just focus on the damned Grimm."

Without warning, the figure pulled away from the two Rangers and sunk into their own shadow, reappearing beside the corrupted Deathstalker. Its head began to split down the middle revealing a set of three holes that rested where it's brain should have been. Red lights began to collect at each of the holes, growing brighter and brighter by the second and becoming almost blinding to look at.

Sensing an attack approaching, Liz rushed in front of Laura and Damien, "Everyone, get behind me!" She yelled, facing the enemy with a nervous look on her face.

The others heeded her warning and quickly moved behind the chestnut-haired girl.

With the team behind her, she held out both her hands in front of her with the palms facing the Grimm. Small hexagonal barriers began to form 5 feet in front of her, combining together to form a larger barrier that covered the area in front of them.

No sooner had she finished erecting her barrier when a large crimson laser shot out from Grimm's head and slammed into the shield with enough force to tear apart the ground around it. Stones and dirt went flying around the group as Liz struggled to hold her barrier in place, her arms shaking with effort while her feet slowly slid backward along the ground, "Just, a little longer…" The barrier began to glow brighter as she grit her teeth and let out a loud war cry.

Slowly, the red light began to disperse from around the barrier turning into a trickle of light before disappearing entirely. With a wave of her hand, she dispelled the barrier and promptly began to keel over until Eric caught her in his arms. She gave a weak chuckle as her auburn colored aura flared for a moment, then disappeared, "Heh, looks like that's as far as I can go…"

"Thanks for the save Liz, you can take it easy now." Eric gently laid her against the shattered fountain with a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking to Raishuns side. "We can't take another hit like that." He said in a grim tone.

"I know dammit." Raishun grumbled while chewing his thumbnail, "What the hell is keeping those two?"

Gil burst through the door to the house and ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time with his scythe drawn. The sounds of the battle raging on outside combined with the screams echoing from the upstairs bedroom urged him to move faster until he reached the top and kicked down the bedroom door. He found Alisa in the corner of the room, holding onto the sides of her head with tears running down her rosy cheeks. Her rifle lay discarded in the middle of the room while a terrified Morgan watched her from under the bed.

"No, no, no, no, no." She stammered, rocking back and forth slowly. "Get away from me Herba… don't hurt me, I'm sorry!"

He rushed to her side and knelt down to her level, "Come on Alisa, snap out of it!" Grabbing onto her shoulders, he began to shake her lightly, "What's wrong, talk to me!"

His touch seemed to have sparked a violent reaction in her. With a loud roar, she threw him off and drew a knife from its sheath on her thigh. "I won't let you kill me!" She lunged at him wildly with the knife, trying to bury it into his chest.

"Alisa stop! It's me Gil!" Startled by her behavior, he lost grip of his weapon as he backed away from his crazed teammate. "Come back to us, please! This isn't like you!" Suddenly he felt his back hit the wall, his blood ran cold as he realized he was out of places to run.

With a look of insanity on her face, Alisa closed the distance between them and plunged the knife into his shoulder. The tip of the blade stopped an inch away from his body, held in place by his aura. "Why won't you die! Why won't you leave me alone!" She put more force into the knife, pushing it deeper and deeper into his aura. Cracks began to appear in his defenses as he ran out of time. "Why don't you disappear!"

Gil's breath hitched in his throat as her words made him recall a painful memory from his past, one he hoped would rot away in the corners of his subconscious. " _Gil… sing for your mother one last time… please,"_ Like a flash of lightning coursing through his brain, the memory provided him with the solution to his problem.

He pushed his shoulder into the knife, forcing it out of Alisa's grasp. In one fluid motion, he kicked the knife away and pulled his teammate into a hug. Then he began to sing, his semblance allowing him to weave his aura into the lyrics to achieve his desired effect.

Alisa's eye went wide for a moment, her mouth opening in a silent scream. Then she began to calm down, the light returned to her eyes followed her fists unclenching and falling to her sides. She stared blankly into the wall in front of her until Gil finished his song, then with a shocked gasp she pulled away from him and clutched at her stomach.

"She… she stabbed me." Upon feeling that she was unwounded, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. "I'm okay… I'm okay…" She took a deep breath to steady herself, then looked at Gil with a bright smile. "That was beautiful Gil, thank you."

Gil felt his cheeks heat up and opened his mouth to speak when a blinding red light shone from the window, followed by the house shaking. The pair of hunters fell to the floor as the house shook for a solid 10 seconds, before slowly coming to a stop.

"We can talk about what happened later, for now, we have a bigger problem to deal with," He retrieved his scythe and looked out the window, a grimace spreading across his face as he saw the fight unfold outside.

Liz lay unconscious against what remained of the fountain, while the rest of his team tried in vain to fight back the Grimm. Their weapons bouncing harmlessly of its chassis.

"What is that thing?" Alisa murmured, joining Gil by the window and staring out at the battlefield. "Please tell me we don't have to fight that thing."

"Yeah, we do," He planted a foot on the windowsill, readying himself to jump when he felt a small pressure on his hand. He turned and saw Alisa silently holding onto him. He let out a small sigh, then flashed her a small smile, "Don't worry, we'll all make it back home safe. I promise."

With his mind spoken, he jumped from the windowsill and rushed to rejoin his team. The feeling of her soft hand still lingered, causing him to pull his hat down lower over his face to hide his embarrassment. "She's not gonna let me hear the end of that one for a while huh…"

Gil reached the group just as the mutated Grimm charged forward. He moved to the front of the group and swung his scythe. "Hey guys, sorry it took me so long. But isn't it custom for the hero to always arrive late." He smirked as he batted the creatures claws to the side But his smile quickly faded when the Grimms saw blade arms cleaved through his weapon like it was made of warm butter.

"Ah… Did not see that one coming." He fell back in line with the rest of the group, his face a mixture of fear and panic as he eyed the remains of his weapon. "If you've got any ideas Alisa I'd love to hear them," Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pair of black rings and slipped one onto the ring finger of each hand.

"I thought you'd never ask. Here's what I came up with," Alisa's said in a cheerful tone, her presence causing a smile to appear on the rest of the group. "Laura I need you deal with the saw blades, Gil and Damien will keep it busy so you won't have to worry about being attacked too much. Marissa and I will deal with the tail, and Eric will land the finishing blow while Raishun keeps that hag Herba busy." She looked down at the group from the windowsill with a bright smile, "You all got that?"

The group gave a collective cheer, raising their weapons in the air before charging forward to face the foe ahead of them. Marissa charged ahead of the group by teleporting to a dagger she had left in buried in its head. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a glove with a wire mechanism on that rested on the back of the hand and slipped it on. Drawing free some wire, she began to climb up the Grimms tail, wrapping the wire as went higher and higher. Holding the free end of the wire in her free hand, she pulled the tail backwards as far as it would go, the plate armor peeling back slowly to reveal a small sliver of the flesh underneath.

Sensing a weakness in it's defenses, the Grimm tried to reach its claws back to strike at the girl. Not only were its claws to short to reach her, but they began to glow with purple light before slamming into the ground. It's glowing red eyes scanned the area in front of it and caught the glint of a silver spear that was buried in the ground in front of it. Purple light connected Laura to the spear, which in turn connected her to its claws.

"The arms are taken care of!" Laura said with a small smile, "The rest of you are free to move in." She began to hold her arms up, palms facing the Grimm to increase the pressure as it began to struggle against its bonds.

Two loud cracks rang out throughout the battlefield as Alisa fired two shots into the exposed parts of its tail. As they tore through the air, the bullets transformed into two large wicked looking knives that sliced through the exposed flesh with ease and severed the stinger from the rest of the tail. The stinger crashed to the ground with a loud thud, eliciting a screech of pain and anger from the Grimm.

Sensing that her beast was in danger, Herba decided that it was time for her to rejoin the fight. With a click of her tongue, she moved to intercept Damien and Gil, who were in the process of climbing onto the Grimm's head. "Damn kids, this'll show them!" She moved the spear to one hand, and pulled her arm back to throw it toward the two boys.

"Don't even think about it!" Suddenly Raishun appeared in her path, and with an upward swing of his sword, he knocked the spear free from her hand. "You're fights with me not them Herba."

"Why you-!" With a flick of her wrist, the spear reappeared in her hand in a flash of blue light just in time for her to deflect the flurry of oncoming attacks he aimed at her. "Just get out of my way!"

While Herba was busy dealing with Raishun, Damien and Gil succeeded in getting the Deathstalkers head pried open, revealing the three barrels that had attacked them before.

"The heads open, it's time to finish this!" Damien yelled, turning his head to look in Eric's direction. "Give him hell for us Eric!"

"Yeah you hear that Eric!" Raishun pinned Herba against the wall of a nearby building, his sword slipping past her defenses and pinging off her green colored aura, "Sounds like it's your time to shine, make sure to put on a good show for us!"

"Don't make this lame Alenko," Eric chuckled, sliding one of his feet back before breaking into a sprint. With a roar of determination, he drove the spearhead of his halberd into the cannon in the center of the Grimms head. The sound of splitting metal echoed throughout the square as his weapon messily tore through the metal and buried itself up to Eric's hand.

"You see that Herba, looks like your little pets been put down, and your plan ruined" Raishun smirked, holding Herba at knifepoint against the wall, her spear laying in the muddy ground. "You know, Ozpin might even give me a bonus for bringing you in."

Herba simply let out a shrill laugh that caused his expression to sour. She lowered her head and looked at him from behind her mask, "Haven't you ever heard that plans rarely go as planned." She seemed to be through him, as if he weren't there. "Besides, looks like I've already won this fight,"

Raishun shot her a confused look, unsure of whether she was threatening him or just saying whatever came to mind to try and throw him off. Then a sound from behind him made his blood run cold. He slowly turned his head towards the sound of the noise, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

"C-come on, you guys can win!" Morgan cheered them on from in front of the fountain, her usually sad features were molded into one filled with hope. "You guys are my heroes!"

"Morgan! Get back inside now!" Laura yelled in panicked tone, then her breath hitched in her voice as she realized her concentration had been broken.

The pressure on the Grimms claws was lifted, and it make quick work swatting away Gil and Damien one claw, while the other one slashed at Eric, forcing him to abandon his Imperial Arm and dart backwards. Laura was forced to dive out of the way as it charged towards the the frightened girl.

Time seemed to move in slow motion for Raishun as he watched the events in front of him unfold. He faintly heard Serah try to speak to him, but it sounded distant and he couldn't tell what she was saying.

"What will you do ?" Herba taunted, "Will you keep me here to make sure I don't escape. Or will you save the life of the innocent child?"

"Damnit!" Raishun roared, time seeming to move normally for him once more. He activated his semblance, using the extra boost of speed to close the distance between him and Morgan. He reached a hand out as he ran, and managed to push her out of the way of the incoming Grimm. " _Looks like I won't have enough time to block…"_

He looked at Morgan with a small smile, "Good, I made it in time." He said, just as the sawblades tore into his stomach.


	13. Chapter 12: A New Hunter

Raishun slammed into the fountain with a sickening crunch, blood from his open wound splattering onto the ground below as he fell to the ground. With clammy hands, he began to clutch his wound to try and stem the bleeding as best he could while he cried out in pain. Tears stung the corners of his eyes, and he couldn't seem to catch his breath. The sound of light footsteps on the rain-soaked streets took his attention off his wound and onto the world around him. Craning his head, he saw Morgan standing in front of him with a look of equal parts horror and guilt.

Harnessing all the willpower inside of him, he put on a smile and faced the smaller girl, "You alright?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she nodded, "Mhm…" She couldn't get the other words to come out as she began to sob quietly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Nah… don't worry about it. It's not as bad as it looks." Slowly, he began to rise to his feet, "Besides, it's the job of us hunters to save people like you-ack!" He fell down on all fours, clutching the still bleeding wound tightly. Spots began to appear in his vision, the realization of his situation started to sink in.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." The strength suddenly left his arms and he flopped onto the wet ground below. He clutched his hands close to his chest as icy cold began to nip at his fingertips. " _I don't wanna die, not like this!"_

" _O-oh shit! This is… um… This is bad!"_ Serah said in a panicky voice. Her usual smooth purple hair was a mess, her cool eyes now had a desperate look to them. " _I can fix this, I can fix this!"_ She ran a hand through her hair, " _I- I can take over! We can synchronize and my aura can heal your wound! Yeah, that's what we'll do!"_

She reached forward to touch his chest. " _That's right, just give me control and you'll be healed, and then we can put this all behind us!"_ Her hand went right through his chest and disappeared into the ground below. She jolted her hand back with a look of fear on her face. " _No… no no no no no."_ She tried again, but the same result occurred. " _You can't be dying, you're not allowed to die!"_

Raishun watched her face contort into an emotion of fear and panic, causing his stomach to sink as the realization of his situation began to sink in. "It's that bad huh." He murmured, "Serah… I don't wanna die." He said out loud, and reached out a hand towards the spirit, trying to grasp onto her hand, only for it to pass through her and fall to the muddy floor. "It's so cold…"

"Don't you dare think about falling asleep here!" Laura yelled as she ran over to him. She knelt down by his side, her white coat quickly becoming stained in the puddle of blood around him. "I'm getting you out of here okay." With a curt nod, she wrapped her arms around his armpits and began the process of slowly dragging him into one of the nearby buildings. The sounds of gunshots and clanging metal filled the air around her, no doubt from her teammates providing her with cover to get him to safety.

Thanks to their work, she was able to successfully drag him inside where she leaned him against a wall. Without taking a moment to rest, she reached forward and pulled up his shirt to inspect his wound. Her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes slowly went wide as she saw the ragged bloody wound the Grimm had inflicted upon him.

Raishun curiously studied the expression on her face, it was one he had never seen on her before. Hopelessness, that's the way he would describe it. He knew that he probably wouldn't survive the fight, and decided that he would at least die with a smile. Pushing aside the fear he was feeling, he leaned forward and rested his chin on her shoulder. "You know I told Morgan that it isn't as bad as it looks. But I'm pretty sure this is as bad as it looks." He chuckled weakly before letting out a small hiss of pain as his wound began to burn, "Scratch that, maybe it's worse than it looks."

She simply stared at him in disbelief, then she let out a half-hearted laugh and wrapped an arm around him. "Honestly, you've got one foot in death's door and you still can't take this seriously." Resting her chin on his shoulder, a sad smile appeared on her face. The two of them stayed that way for a small time until the sound of the door being thrown open caused her to pull away and face the intruder, who turned out to be Morgan.

"Is he gonna be okay?" The young faunus girl asked with a solemn look. The fox-like ears on her head drooped slightly as she watched blood begin to pool around the pair of hunters.

Laura took a deep breath to steady herself before she answered. "Yeah, he'll be fine. Besides…" She untangled herself from his arms and rose to her feet, her eyes stayed on him with a comforting look. "He's far too stubborn to die." With one swift movement, she pulled one of her swords free from her hip and held it out hilt first towards the young girl. "Here, for if a Grimm tries to come in." She gave the blade a small flick, gesturing for her to take it.

Morgan stared at the shiny silver blade for a moment, her eyes glancing over the symmetrically spaced diagonal notches that ran along the length of the blade. Making a mental note to ask about it later if she got a chance, she took it with shaky hands. "Okay…"

"Good girl, make me proud okay." The huntress gave Morgan a warm pat on the head before she vaulted out the window and running towards her teammates.

When she arrived, both Gil and Damien were laying on the ground. Their auras had been completely drained after being thrown off the Grimm, leaving them both exhausted and out of breath. Giving them a quick look over, she ascertained that both of them weren't hurt too badly, just tired.

"How is he?" Eric yelled as he did a backflip over one saw, then rolled midair to avoid a second swipe. He rolled away as he landed on the ground before springing up to his feet beside her.

"He's in bad shape. There's just so much blood." Laura said in a panicked tone. Her eyes moved back in forth quickly as she watched Marisa rapidly teleport around the Grimms face. "If we don't get him back, he might…" The reality that she might lose her teammate began to set in, threatening to cause her panic. It took every bit of determination and focus she had to remain calm, but it wasn't enough to keep her hands from shaking slightly.

Eric watched his comrade closely, noticing her shaky hands and the panicked look in her eyes. With a heavy breath, he steeled himself for what he had to do. "I'm ending this. I want you, Damien, and Gil to get to Liz as fast as you can." He instructed while gesturing to Marissa. "Once you're there, tell her to use her semblance at maximum power."

She nodded and quickly left to go do what he had asked. Behind her, Marissa appeared beside Eric with a worried look on her face.

"Are you sure about this? You know what doing that does to you." She placed a reassuring hand on his arm, her face filled with worry.

"I'm sure." He nodded, "Besides, that crazy lady, Herba or whatever her name was, hasn't moved since Raishun went down. So if we're gonna make a move, this is the time to do it."

Marissa turned her head to look, and sure enough, Herba was standing motionless. The spear in her hand hung by her side as she seemed to look at the fight ahead of them.

"Okay, I trust your judgment." She pulled away from Eric and drew the last knife from her belt. "Make it count okay." Turning on her heel, she threw the knife by Liz's foot and teleported away.

Eric now faced the Grimm all on his own, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He closed his eyes and slammed the butt of his halberd into the ground. Reaching forward, he pried the crystal free from his weapon and held it against his chest, over where his heart should be. His eyes snapped open, the color of his eyes slowly changing from a warm green to an aggressive orange. His pupils elongated into thin slits, and the nails on his fingers slowly grew into sharp claws. Suddenly he hunched over as if he had been punched in the gut, two large bulges began to grow on his back, stretching out his jacket until they broke through, revealing two large feathered wings, not unlike those of an angel. Only his wings were a deep black color compared to an angel's white ones.

"What happened to him…" Gil murmured in awe. Laura had managed to help him and Damien over to Liz, where he laid on his side. Watching the action unfold, the awe he felt quickly turned to anger when he saw Eric shoot up into the air and disappear into the clouds above. "Hey what the hell! He just left us!"

"No, he's coming back," Liz said, her hands were waving in front of her as she worked on strengthening the barrier that surrounded the group. More and more of her hexagonal shields layered on top of one another, but no matter how many she added the grim look on her face didn't change. "He's about to come down, get ready!"

A loud screeching sound caught them off guard, causing them to look up at the sky where a small ball of flame began to shoot towards the ground below. Slowly the flames began to crawl forward, revealing Eric as they collected on the point of his sickle which he had pointed down towards the Grimm. With a loud roar, he drove his burning sickle into his foes head, impaling it to the ground while the ground around them turned a bright red color. Suddenly the ground below the two exploded, causing dark red flames to shoot up into the surrounding area. They raced forward and slammed into the barrier, shattering two of the layers Liz had created. The third one threatened to give out but barely managed to stay together.

While the armor the Grimm had may have protected it from swords and spears, it provided little protection against flames. Instead of protecting the Grimm, it served as the perfect cooking pot to burn the Grimm alive. Its flesh became seared black and came off in small pieces as ashes.

Liz held the barrier for as long as she could until her energy gave out and she dropped to the ground unconscious, her barrier going down with her. The group stood on the only remaining bricks in the area, everything else had either been turned to ashes or blackened. Small flames licked the ground, and several of the buildings had their exteriors melted. The smell of charred flesh stung their nostrils, hanging heavy in the air thanks to the rain.

In the middle of the square, Eric was hunched over the Grimm. He pulled his sickle free before stumbling backward and falling to one knee. The wings on his back turned into yellow embers and flew away in the wind, meanwhile, some orange rock like substance fell from under his hood onto the ground below him.

The group worriedly rushed to him, but he held up his hand to stop them halfway. "I'm fine… it just takes a lot out energy to pull off." He said in between ragged breaths. He had a hand clutching his side as he staggered towards the group.

Alisa popped her head out from one of the buildings and shook a fist at the group. "What's the big idea! Were you trying to kill us all!?" She reached down and slapped the melted exterior of her building. "If I hadn't been in here I would've died, so give me a head up before you try some crazy stunt again!" She huffed.

The sound of engines approaching drew their attention, causing their faces to brighten as the recognized the familiar sound. Looking up towards the sky they could see a bullhead begin its descent. It slowed and hovered a foot off the ground, the sound of its speaker crackling could be clearly heard through the pouring rain. "Get on kids! We don't have much time before more those things show up!" The pilot ordered, his voice filled with a sense of tense urgency.

While the others worked on helping each other onto the bullhead, Laura sprinted off into the building where she'd hidden Raishun and emerged a few seconds later with him leaning unconscious against her shoulder. Morgan followed closely behind them, one of her small hands was pressed up against Raishun's back to try and help Laura support his weight.

Alisa jumped down from her own building to help Laura carry/drag their teammate, "Pilot! We need the infirmary ready at Beacon, Raishun's hurt badly!" She yelled.

The four of them had just started to lift him onto the bullhead when the sound of metal creaking sent a chill down their spines. They turned their heads, eyes going wide with fear as they saw the same Deathstalker they had been fighting all this time start inching towards them.

"That's not possible, I hit it with everything I had." Eric started to move towards the exit ramp, his Imperial Arm at the ready, but a hand from Marissa stopped him. "Let me go."

"You know how much doing that attack hurts you." Her eyes ran up and down his figure, noting the heavy breaths he was taking as well as how his legs seemed to slightly tremble under his weight. "Let the experienced Hunters deal with it, you'd just get yourself killed if you went out there now."

Panicked, Laura scooped up Morgan and sat her down in one of the seats, "Don't move." She instructed before returning to her two teammates to help them drag Raishun up into the ship. Their arms shook from exhaustion as inch by inch, they pulled him further up the ramp and into the ship just as they began to ascend into the air.

Just as they had him off the ramp, the Grimm made a sudden lunge for the bullhead, forcing the pilot to jerk to the side in order to avoid being hit. The sudden movement caused the group to lose their grip on Raishun. To make matters worse, the pouring rain had caused the ramp to become slick, making it easy for him to start sliding down the open ramp.

Laura dived forward, her arm outstretched to try and catch his hand but she was a second too slow. Raishun slid off the ramp and tumbled three meters onto the ground below, landing on his side with a wet smack. He cried out in pain, clutching his side tightly as a surge of adrenaline forced him awake.

"NO!" Laura yelled, she scrambled to her feet and had one foot off the ramp when Gil rushed forward and pulled her back onto the bullhead. "Let me go! I have to get him!" She started to struggle against him, slamming her elbow into his side.

"You know I can't do that!" Gil winced in pain from her blows but kept his arms wrapped around her stomach. "What would Mom and Dad say if I let you run off after him and get yourself killed. You have a responsibility as a part of our family to survive-"

"Shut up!" Marissa snapped, drawing the attention of everyone in the bullhead. "Guys, where's Morgan?"

Gil quickly scanned the ship, sure enough, the fox Faunus was nowhere to be found. He pushed Laura behind him and craned his head over the ramp. His blood ran cold when he spotted her on the ground below, standing in front of Raishun with her arms held out to her sides. "Damnit how did she get down there? Pilot turn us around! We've got a big problem on the ground!"

Morgan stood in front of Raishun with her arms outstretched. While she knew that she stood no chance against the Grimm, something inside of her told her that she should stand her ground. "Go away!" She yelled with all the courage she could muster.

Behind her, Raishun had started to rise to his feet. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned his Imperial Arm to his hand, using it to prop himself up. "Morgan… You need to get out of here… it's not safe." He took one step forward and immediately fell to the ground with a wet thud.

She didn't respond to his words, instead choosing to keep facing forward as the Grimm approached them. "Why… why did you save me?" She said to him in a shaky voice. "It was my fault… it's all my fault." She hung her head low, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks.

"Because you needed help silly… it's the job of us Hunters to protect you… to protect everyone… remember." He said in between labored breaths as he dragged himself forward through the freshly forming mud.

Morgan let out a small sob, then raised her hands to wipe away her tears. "You saved me… so now…" She lifted her head, revealing a determined look, "It's my turn to protect you!"

Before he could stop her, she rushed forward with a surprising amount of speed for someone her age. She slid underneath a swipe from its arms and clambered onto its head, where a small patch of armor had been destroyed from Eric's attack, revealing a patch of burnt flesh. Opening her mouth wide, she leaned down and bit off a chunk of the charred flesh.

It screeched in pain, its arms rising up to its head to try and knock her off. Once again she proved to be faster than she seemed, by vaulting off of its head, spinning midair as she landed in front of Raishun with the piece of meat still in her mouth. She swallowed the morsel and then spit out a small piece, "Blehh, it tastes bad." She complained while making a disgusted face.

Raishun stared at her with a look of equal parts confusion and surprise, "Morgan… why did you do that-"

His question was quickly answered when she suddenly hunched over in pain. Her hands reached up to clutch her head as she let out a pained groan that quickly turned into a blood-curdling scream. A bulge started to grow from her lower back, pushing up against her shirt until it broke free in a burst of red light. From her lower back had grown a tail identical to the Grimm's, only hers was pale white in color, and ended in a sharp point instead of a rounded head.

With a loud warcry, she launched herself at her foe once more. It raised an arm, then brought it down to crush her into the ground, but she blocked the attack with her tail. Sparks flew from the sawblades spinning against her tail, with a grunt of effort she pushed the arm away, buying herself just enough time to climb onto its head. She thrust her tail down into the hole Eric had made, blue light started to pout out of the hole, growing brighter and brighter by the second. She screamed, and a series of loud bangs, similar to cannon shots, filled the air. The Grimm below her spasmed for a moment before limply collapsing onto the ground. It's body slowly disintegrating into ash.

With the danger gone, the bullhead was able to return and land on the ground. The rest of the group quickly ran towards the two. Gil and Damien picked up Raishun, hurrying him back to the ship while the others stood in front of the disappearing Grimm. Morgan still stood on top of its head, her tail repeatedly stabbing into its head while tears began to fall down her cheeks once more.

"Morgan it's okay," Laura said softly. She began to slowly approach the girl, her left hand rising to reach out to her. "It can't hurt you, but we have to go now." She reached the Grimm's body and set one foot on its head when the tip of Morgans tail stopped an inch from her throat.

"No, I don't wanna." Morgan sniffed, her head hanging low. "I'm a monster… I eat Grimm and then…" her tail began to shake lightly, "Nobody wants me anymore."

Laura put on a small smile and pushed the tail away with the back of her hand before walking up and embracing the Faunus. "You're not a monster, you saved my partner's life." She said, "That makes you just like us. That makes you a Huntress."

"Really. That makes me… happy." Morgan murmured quietly. Her tail fell to the ground, then disappeared in a puff of pale ash. She let her head rest on Laura's shoulder as her eyelids grew heavy, and eventually, sleep overtook her.

Sensing that she was asleep, Laura scooped Morgan up in her arms and carried her into the bullhead, the rest of the group following behind her in stunned silence. They boarded the bullhead, and flew back to Beacon, hoping that they would make it in time to save their teammate's life.

 **(Meanwhile at Beacon Academy)**

Ozpin quietly sat in his office, sipping coffee from his favorite mug while he looked over student records. He let out a small sigh and prepared to call it a day when Herba rose from a bubbling black puddle on the floor. With a loud cry of anger, she swiped everything off Ozpin's desk and pointed her spear at him.

"YOU TOLD ME IT WOULD BE FINE! THAT EVERYTHING WOULD GO ACCORDING TO PLAN!" She yelled in anger, "GIVE ME ONE REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T TURN YOU INTO A PINCUSHION RIGHT HERE AND NOW!"

Ozpin adjusted his glasses and stared up at her with an unfazed expression. If anything he seemed to be more upset with the mess she had caused than the threat she had made on his life. "Please calm yourself Ms.-"

"DON'T call me that Oz!" She snapped, slamming her spear into his desk. "You didn't tell me he had changed enough to throw himself in front of a saw blade for a girl he had just met! You could have ruined everything!"

"I don't see how him dying to a Grimm would've changed your plan." He sighed, eyeing his desk with a sullen expression. "He dies to the Grimm, then you kill said Grimm and take his Imperial Arm for yourself. It's exactly like your old plan only with an extra step."

Herba let out a frustrated groan and started to pace around his office. "You don't know that spirit! Out of all the Imperial Arms, Caligula has the pickiest spirit! What's to stop her from breaking off the connection between her and some weak-willed Grimm!" She pointed an accusing finger at the man as she approached him, "I told you… I told you that it was a bad idea to keep something like that in the Emerald Vale, but did you listen to me!? No!"

"I understand your frustration Herba, but is barging into my office and threatening my life really the best way to do this-"

"You, UNDERSTAND my frustration!? I've helped you for over 60 years and you still always hide things from me!" She reached forward and grabbed him by the collar, her eyes burned with anger and frustration. "Next time I expect to know every little detail before I go in, otherwise I'll just have to settle for Gaia instead of Caligula." She let go of his collar, grabbed her Imperial Arm, and sunk back into the ground. Leaving Ozpin alone with his thoughts.


	14. Chapter 13: Together Yet Apart

Laura sat in Ozpin's office with Eric and Morgan on either side of her. With hollowed eyes, she stared at the floor in a daze, the day's events running through her mind on repeat. The way they fought the odd-looking Deathstalker and its master in the village, Raishun's blood flying through the air like red droplets of rain, and Morgan's transformation. Slowly her eyes moved downwards to stare at her coat, taking in the stains that ranged from small rose-colored points to dark crimson splotches from when she had helped carry Raishun. She didn't think they would come out no matter how much she washed them. A muted voice rang through the dark thoughts, bringing her back to reality.

"Ms. Izuna, are you listening to me?"

She glanced upwards. Before her Ozpin sat at his desk with a dark expression. His brows were furrowed from being deep in thought, and the rhythmic tapping of his cane on the floor echoed throughout the room.

"Yes Headmaster, please forgive me." She nodded respectfully, avoiding his piercing gaze. "But it's been a hard day for my… both… our teams. It's taken it's a toll on us, some more so than others."

Her eyes glanced over to Eric. He looked almost ill, his now pale skin shone with sweat and the bones in his body seemed to rattle with each breath he took.

"That's understandable , but I believe that I deserve an explanation as to what happened." He picked up a scroll from his desk, swiping down on the screen as he did so, "Three Hunter's incapacitated, one Ranger in critical condition, and the other so weak he could barely make the trip up to my office. Not to mention the report your pilots gave of a White Fang member with the power to not only control Grimm but enhance their characteristics as well." He brought his favorite mug up to his lips, taking a small sip of coffee before he continued, "Now, who here would like to explain to me what happened in that village."

"We did exactly as you asked Ozpin!" Eric yelled in a weak voice, " We went out there and investigated your little village thinking we'd find a downed radio tower or a few Grimm! But do you know what we found instead?" A snarl appeared on his face as his voice grew louder with every word he spoke. "A massacre! There were bloodstains everywhere, all over houses, the windows, EVERYWHERE!" Suddenly he lurched forward and let out a strangled cough, orange embers spilling from under his hood with every heave of his chest.

"Mr. Nightengale, I understand your frustration but there's no need to raise your voice-"

"You UNDERSTAND!? You don't understand shit!" He leaned forward and slammed his fist on the table, sending embers flying into the air. "You weren't there walking through those bloodied streets trying to find something, anything, that we could save! But no matter how much we looked, we found NOTHING!" He was yelling now, embers freely spilling from his mouth like blood with each word he spoke. "You don't get to say you understand how we feel when you weren't there to see Raishun get stabbed by that crazy bitch Herba!"

"Wait a moment, did you just say Herba?" Ozpin's eyes lit up with dread at the name, a look which was unusual on the stoic headmaster. "Can you describe her appearance for me?"

Eric suddenly looked like he wanted to punch the headmaster. His eyes had narrowed into thin slits, and his hands were balled into fists so tightly that his knuckles had turned an impossibly pale shade of white. His body shifted forward preparing to strike when Actaeon appeared beside him.

" _Before you decide to assault your headmaster, why don't you take note of your surroundings."_ He spoke calmly, his crimson eyes looking past the tired looking Ranger.

For the briefest moment, his gaze wandered to his left, where he saw Morgan clinging to Laura with her hands clamped down around her ears. His anger quickly melted away and was instead replaced by guilt.

" _I think she's been through enough already."_ The spirit walked behind Eric and quickly disappeared, returning to his home in his master's heart. " _And I know you're thinking the same thing. So don't make this any harder for her than it has to be."_

"...She had dark green hair…" He slumped back down in his chair while doing his best to avoid the headmaster's piercing gaze. "She's a little taller than me, so around 5'11. She had on a black cloak, brown corset underneath and some light armor. Oh, and her mask, it was kinda like a deathstalker I guess." His eyes narrowed, "And a blue spear Imperial Arm."

The usually stoic headmaster leaned back in his chair as he heard the description, once Erich had finished, he plucked his glasses from his face and tossed them onto his desk with a tired sigh. "If what you say is true, then you're very lucky to have survived that encounter. It's not everyday one fights against the leader of Adam's personal guard and lives to tell the tale." His gaze hardened, "That woman… she stands on a pile of bodies more than a mile high. If you see her again, I want you all to run. Do I make myself clear?"

The students nodded in affirmation, and with a satisfied smile, Ozpin stood from his desk. Leaving his cane resting against his chair, he strode around his desk and in front of Laura. "Well, that's the end of my lecture, now… What would the name of our little hero be?"

"H-hero?" Morgan asked, staring wide-eyed at the man in front of her.

"Yes, a hero. I heard from the pilots that you saved one of my students from meeting a rather untimely end." He extended his hand towards the young girl, "You have my gratitude."

The Faunus glanced up at Laura for reassurance, and when she saw the older girl nod, she stood and shook the headmaster's hand. "You're welcome." She paused as if trying to think of what to say next, "My name's Morgan… It's nice to meet you?" She said with a bit of uncertainty.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well. My name is Ozpin, and I'm in charge of this school." Taking note of her insecurity, he decided to try and ease her worries even if just a little. "There's no need to be afraid, for as long as you are within these walls I promise that no harm will befall you."

The headmaster smiled warmly, then his eyes drifted to the fox ears on top of her head. For a moment, his eyes caught a glimpse of what looked like white-colored armor peeking out from beneath her hair. "Morgan." he said, "I know this is an odd request, but would it be alright for me to inspect those ears of yours. I assure you it will only take a moment."

Morgan felt Laura's hand rest on her shoulder. It felt warm, and gave her enough confidence to respond, "Okay."

He reached forward and gently brushed her messy hair away from her ears. While the ears on the top of her head may have looked normal, upon closer inspection he could see small white bony plates where her ears met her scalp. Crimson colored lines ran from the plates up to the tips of her ears. He gently pressed a finger against one of the lines and was surprised to find it cold to the touch. "How fascinating…"

"Is she okay?" Laura asked, her eyes filled with worry as she noticed the plates as well, "She's not ill is she?"

"There's no need to worry , this girl is the very image of health. However…" He mulled the words over in his head, trying to figure out a good way to word his next sentence, "It seems our young is a special type of Faunus."

"What do you mean special?"

"Allow me to clarify." He released the young girl's ears and returned to his seat behind his desk. "What I meant was that she is part Grimm as well. Without a doubt, she is the first of her kind."

The room quickly went quiet, everyone stared intently at the mysterious young girl before them. Unable to handle the pressure, Morgan held her hands close to her body and quickly looked around the room for something to focus on. "I'm sorry… did I do something bad?" Tears began to appear at the corners of her eyes.

"No. no, no. Everything's okay." Laura knelt down and warmly embraced the younger girl. "It's okay, we could never hate you, Morgan."

The young Faunus clung to the older girl, her hands clenched tightly onto her stained trench coat. Within seconds she seemed to have calmed down.

Ozpin smiled from behind his desk, "Due to your unique position as a Grimm Faunus, introducing you into society as you are now could lead to some rather serious problems down the line." He leaned forward with his chin resting on his hands, "I believe the best course of action would be for you to remain here at Beacon Academy. We can teach you how to utilize those gifts of yours for good, as well as offer you a basic education in case you decide you don't wish to be a Hunter."

"Really! Can I stay, can I stay!" She pulled away from Laura and ran up to the desk, "Pretty please can I stay?"

The headmaster let out a hearty chuckle, "Yes you can stay. Now, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Beacon Academy Ms. Morgan" He paused, "Pardon my asking, but would you mind telling us what your last name is? Ms. Morgan doesn't roll off the tongue easily."

"I don't have one… nobody ever told me what it was." She took on more of a sullen look, "I know my mama was supposed to tell me, but I never got to meet her."

"Oh, I know. If you don't have one, why don't you come up with one for yourself." Laura quickly stepped into the conversation, "Just make sure it's something nice that you'll like."

Morgan's face brightened upon hearing the news, the thoughts of her mother quickly forgotten as the possibilities raced through her head. One name stuck out to her more than the others, it felt right somehow.

"I want Alenko… Morgan Alenko." She said proudly.

As soon as she finished her sentence, a look of dread quickly appeared on Eric's face. His eyes nervously darted between Laura and Ozpin, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"Er… Morgan. Why don't we choose a different name. Oh, I know, how about Zettar or Reagan?"

"No!" The young Faunus let out a small huff and puffed out her cheeks. "I want Alenko!"

"Okay, you can have Alenko." Laura sighed, she had never been good with smaller children, always wondering how to treat them properly. It had never been an issue for Gil though, she reminded herself to ask him for some pointers on the subject once they met back up. "Can you at least tell me why you want that name in particular?"

"I want it because it's my Papa's name!"

"EHHH! PAPA!?" Laura stared at Morgan in shock, "What makes you think that!?"

Morgan tensed up, "E-Eric showed me a movie about a little boy tiger and his Papa. When I asked him what a Papa was he said it's someone who protects their son no matter what. I-I'm n-not a boy… but Raishun protected me from the rain and the monster, so he's my Papa…"

"Oh… it's okay Morgan don't cry, don't cry." Laura knelt and took Morgan in her arms. When the younger girl wasn't looking she shot a nasty glare at Eric which he promptly avoided.

" _Damn, she's definitely pissed."_ A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead as he sensed the dark aura emanating from team Regalia's leader. " _All I did was try to calm her down, I didn't do anything wrong this time"_

" _Well that is the issue, you always seem to be meddling in people's business. She probably thinks you planned this."_ His spirit, Actaeon, appeared in front of him. His crimson armor glowing a faint red in the evening light. " _She probably thinks you planned all this."_ A small smile appeared on his face. " _But you did a good thing Eric, don't forget that."_

"W-wait… Am I forgetting something." Morgan's face scrunched up cutely, as she tried to jog her memory. "R-right! Eric said if I have a Papa, then I have a Mama too."

Actaeon's eyes slowly moved over to Eric. " _Don't even think about it."_ He said while staring at the wide grin that had appeared at his partners face. " _I just praised you, don't make me take it back Eric."_

" _Aw come on Actaeon, what's the worst that can happen."_

"Hey Morgan, if Raishun's your Papa, then who's your Mama?" Eric asked while he leaned forward in his chair. His hand rose to his chin, stroking it slowly as if he were deep in thought. "Is it that pink-haired girl who helped carry him."

"Nuh-uh," She shook her head rapidly from side to side before throwing her arms around Laura's neck. "This is Mama."

Laura's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, trying to voice her opinion but unable to form any words. After a few seconds, she was able to get her voice to come out. "W-WHAT!? Wh-why would you think that!?"

Morgan stared at her with a confused look on her face. "The Papa lion had a Mama lion with him. I didn't know what a Mama was, so I asked Eric again!" She explained proudly, "He said that a Mama was like a Papa's best friend, and would protect him. You protected Papa from the rain by giving him a biiiiiig hug so he wouldn't get wet." Her small fingers began to poke against the older girls' cheek, "So that means you two are married!"

Laura opened her mouth to protest, but a snort from her side caused her to pause. She slowly craned her head to glare daggers at a grinning Eric, who seemed to be barely containing his laughter.

"Now before you do anything, let me just say that this is all just a social experiment-"

Eric barely had enough time to grab both of the girl's wrists as she charged at him with her swords drawn. "Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah! It's a joke, I'm kidding! Laura don't kill me please!"

"Dammit Eric! Is this because of another bet you made with team RWBY!?" She yelled, a brief memory Raishun waking up in the middle of a lake as a result of their last bet flashing through her mind. "Ugh! You're no better than Alisa sometimes!"

"What does dammit mean?" Morgan said innocently from behind the two. "Papa said that word a lot when he was fighting… is it a magic spell?"

Eric couldn't hold back any longer and started laughing, "Yes, that's right Morgan. It's a spell your Papa uses to make him stronger during fights."

"N-NO! Don't listen to him Morgan, that's a very bad word! Only adults can say it, so make sure you don't repeat it okay." She stuttered and made a mental note to have a long discussion with Raishun about his language issues.

Ozpin tapped the end of his cane twice on the floor to get the group's attention. Though he may have seemed composed, it took all of his willpower to keep himself from smiling. "Now that we've reached a suitable conclusion, I believe the next course of action will be to secure you a larger room ."

He opened one of the drawers to his desk and pulled out a small key that he placed on the table in front of him, "I'll send someone to move your belongings to your new lodgings. In the meantime, I suggest you hurry back to your team and inform them about these new changes."

"Thank you, sir," Laura gave a small curtsey by lifting the sides of her trench coat. The edges of her lips curled into a small smile when she saw Morgan mimic her actions besides her. "We'll make sure to put the space to good use."

"See to it that you do." He nodded, "Now if you three would excuse me, I have several reports that need to be finished before finds out. Otherwise, I may be in a bit of trouble."

The three quickly made their way out of the room, leaving the headmaster alone in his office. He leaned back in his chair, and with a small sigh tapped his cane three times on the ground. "So… how would you rate my acting?"

A small black puddle appeared on the ground beside him, quickly growing bigger as Herba rose from its dark depths. "Hmm… I'd give you around a B." She hopped up onto his desk and began to idly kick her feet in the air. "You overhyped me just a bit. My pile of bodies isn't quite a mile high."

Ozpin chuckled, "My mistake then. Though clearly you haven't learned any manners since you've entered my service." He flicked the back of her neck in an attempt to get her off the desk. "What would you have done if that boys Imperial Arm had noticed you?"

"Actaeon?" She smirked playfully and jumped off his desk, "Please, that spirit is always going on about honor and power. I'd be damned if he noticed me." She slipped into one of the chairs in front of him with her feet propped up on his desk. "Besides, you wouldn't want me to leave after I went through the trouble of gathering all that info on the girl they brought in."

"Unfortunately for you, I'm well aware of her situation." He stared at her feet with an irritated expression. "Off the desk please."

With a click of her tongue, she planted her feet on the ground, "Obviously she's Grimm, no ordinary person can just take a bite out of a Grimm and survive." Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out a well-beaten scroll and began to swipe away at the holographic screen.

"What isn't so obvious is that she's the fruit of that little experiment of yours," Herba said coldly.

Ozpin's eyes widened, goosebumps appeared on his skin as he felt the temperature in the room quickly drop. His eyes slowly moved to look at his accomplice, dread filling his stomach as he did so. "Excuse me?"

"Mhm. I'd bet my left kidney on it being so." Clearing her throat, she began to read aloud. "Day 127. By using dust created by the Beowulf Grimm, we've successfully managed to enhance the abilities of thirty children. One, in particular, has already begun to show prowess with their newfound ability." Her tone was cold and venomous, with each word being spit like a curse at the headmaster. "Day 151. Seventy-five percent of the children have expired from the stress using their power causes. The remaining children seem shaken and have become withdrawn. I trust that there will be no more escape attempts in the future."

Disgusted, Herba slammed the scroll down on Ozpin's desk, shattering the already damaged machine into pieces. With a hand tightly gripping his collar and a fire burning in her eyes, she contemplated whether to strike down the headmaster right then and there. "Sending me out to fight against Rangers is one thing, but using children to fight our battles is going too far!"

"You of all people should know why I authorized this! If we don't act soon, Salem will kill us all! The sacrifice of a few children is tolerable if it means gaining a weapon to help us turn the tide of this damned war!" Glaring daggers at her, he roughly shoved her hand away. "And I don't want to hear about morals from the woman who's trying to kill-"

"NOT ANOTHER WORD OZPIN!" She yelled waves of black shadow flared into sharp spikes behind her, each one poised to strike. "I don't ever want to hear about another scheme of yours again, otherwise you'll have to do without me and your little pal Qrow."

With a loud huff, she disappeared into the floor, causing the shadows behind her to disappear as well.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Ozpin tapped a button on his own scroll and raised it to his ear. "Hello? I want you to accelerate Raishun's recovery, even if it means using that special ability of yours. We'll need his Imperial Arm for our next step."

Morgan trotted a few feet behind her new mother as they roamed the large halls of the academy. Her widened eyes took in every detail of the hallways, from the polished wooden doors to the large windows that pointed out towards the immaculately kept gardens. Despite the warm atmosphere, the days' events weighed heavily on her mind. "Mama? Is Papa gonna be okay?"

"Yes, he'll be just fine." Laura said confidently without breaking her pace, "It'll take more than that to knock down your Papa..." She paused, a light blush spread across her face, "I'm going to need to get used to that." She whispered.

The young girl's mood seemed to brighten. "Really!? Can we go see him, pretty please!"

"Certainly, we're heading there right now." She gestured to the large doorway in front of them, "That's where they keep the injured and ill."

The duo pushed through the doors, and while Laura was able to walk forward without issue Morgan paused for a moment before walking in. Everything from the walls to the floor was a sparkling white color. They reminded her too much of her old home, where she lived in the fluffy room with her brothers and sisters. Taking a deep breath, she quickly fell back into step with Laura as she stopped in front of a large desk, where a bored-looking nurse in an unkempt pink uniform tapped away at her scroll.

"Good evening, we're here to see Raishun Alenko." She explained in a formal tone, "We're a part of his team, and we were curious to see how he was doing."

The nurse tapped a finger to her chin in thought, "Alenko… Oh right, that kid with the giant gash in his chest." The nurse said in a bored tone without taking her eyes off her scroll, "I bet the surgeon twenty lien that he wouldn't make it through the surgery. Anyways, I'm twenty lien short, and he's not allowed to see anyone right now."

The color drained from Morgan's face as she heard the nurse speak, with trembling hands she gripped Laura's sleeve tightly for reassurance. "Papa…"

"Morgan," Laura said coldly, her eyes narrowed upon hearing the disinterested tone of the nurse "Can you go get Mama a water from that machine behind you." She placed a few lien into the smaller girl's hand and turned her around to face the machine. "Just slide the coins into the machine and push the button with the picture of water on it okay?"

She nodded and ran over to the brightly colored machine. She'd never seen so many bottles in one place before, back in her old home they were only given a cup of water when they got really thirsty. Following Laura's instructions, she slid the lien into the machine and began to search the shelves with a furrowed brow. Her eyes lit up when she spotted her objective, and she eagerly pushed the button. Excitement quickly turned to horror as a black can dropped down into the dispenser.

"What! Noooo! I pushed the right button!" She pounded on the machine with her small fists to no effect. For a moment she considered using her semblance to get water from the machine, but quickly shot the idea down when she thought of how her mother would react.

Defeated by the complexity of modern technology, she grabbed the black can and trudged back to her mother with her hanging low. "I'm sorry Mama, I got the wrong one."

"It's alright Morgan, I like coffee too." She gently patted the younger girl's hair in thanks as she took the can from her hand.

Morgan couldn't help but notice that she slid something inside her trench coat. Confused, she turned her gaze towards the nurse, only to find that she had buttoned up her uniform. Apprehension and fear filled the woman's eyes as she looked at the two.

"My apologies , please follow me and I'll show you to his room." The nurse quickly rose from her chair and led them down a series of winding corridors until they arrived in front of a door in the emergency ward.

"I'll leave you two be now. Should you need anything else I'll be at my station out in the reception hall." The nurse bowed politely before quickly walking back the way they came.

With her hands tightly gripping her stained trench coat, Laura pushed open the door in front of them to reveal a large mass of machines surrounding a sleeping Raishun in his bed. Taking a tentative step inside, she noticed standing at his bedside with her hand pressed against his lips.

"D-Doctor!? What are you doing?" Laura stared at her in confusion as she tried to process the scene in front of her.

"Ah!" Hazel flinched and quickly drew her hand back into her pocket. "Laura! You gave me a bit of a fright there, I wasn't aware he was allowed to have visitors." She cleared her throat, "As for what I was doing, I was merely making sure that my patient was still breathing. Machines have been known to malfunction in the past after all."

"Right…" The huntress was skeptical of the doctor's explanation, but for now, she had bigger matters to attend to than some suspicious behavior. "We were just wondering how he was doing."

"You'll be happy to know that he'll make a full recovery, even if it was a close call. The chest plate he was wearing saved his life, without it, he could have easily been killed." Her eyes glanced over the machines that crowded the bed. "We used dust to fully repair his wounds, but there will still be some scarring. It's such a shame too, he had such a nice beach body-"

Laura cleared her throat loudly and gestured to the child beside her. "As happy as I am to hear that, please watch what you say while Morgan's here. She's already learned a few curse words thanks to Eric, I don't need or want to teach her about what a beach body is."

Hazel laughed and watched as the young girl made her way through the mess of machines to reach a comatose Raishun.

"Papa…" She lay her head on his arm, with her hand tightly gripping his.

"Papa? This kid… is she-"

"NO! Well, if you want to get into specifics she is but still…" With a heavy sigh, she sat down at the foot of Raishun's bed. "She's staying with my team for now, but she's adamant about referring to Raishun and I as her parents."

"If it becomes a problem for you, you could easily pass her off as a distant relative or family friend." Her eyes glanced over the various machines crowding the bed, her fingers dancing across her scroll as she noted the data. "You and the boy aren't Faunus, but she is. It'd be hard to believe that- what was her name, Morgan right- is your child."

"Thank you for the advice, I'll take it to heart." The Huntress smiled, "If I can be honest with you, I was a little worried about how I was going to explain Morgan to others."

"I'm more than happy to help, but could you please attend to that little friend of yours? She's drooling all over my patient."

Laura turned away from the doctor and looked at the bed where sure enough, Morgan was asleep on Raishun's arm. "Right. We wouldn't want to overstay our welcome." She lifted the young Faunus into her arms and began to weave through the many machines in the room. "Thank you for taking care of him." She said, before leaving the room.

Raishun stared blankly out at the vast purple of space that surrounded Serah's living room. Serah was lazily spread out on the couch behind him, eating away at a small bag of cake pops she had made while the two were trapped there.

"Stop moping around already, you've been like that for hours now. I know you got your ass kicked, it happens to everyone eventually." She reached into her bag and pulled free a blue colored cake pop which she promptly ate, "Come on, why not have some sweets and enjoy being pain-free while you still can. Believe me, once you wake up your chest is gonna hurt so bad."

"Knock it off, I don't even know how you managed to make those since we don't have a kitchen in here." He scoffed as he turned to face the mischievous spirit, "And yeah, I guess everyone loses once and awhile, but that's all I've been doing since I got here. I get in a fight, I start losing, and then I have to get saved by someone. It's always the same thing happening over and over again, and I'm sick of it!"

"Well what did you think would happen, you're not from here, you don't have the same training they do." Reaching into her bag, she pulled free a maroon-colored cake pop and held it above her head. "This is where all the other students are, like your team and team RWBY." She pulled free another cake pop, this time an azure one, and held it 12 inches below the maroon one, "And this is where you are right now. I'd say you need another good 6 months or so before you're even close to being on their level." She explained as she ate both pastries in one bite, "Besides, you're acting like a big baby right now and it's giving me a headache."

"I don't want to hear another word from you!" Raishun snapped, he stomped over to the couch and glared at his ally, "You could have switched with me back there in the village and saved my ass! You easily had enough fuel from all the messed up shit I saw back there!"

She looked up at him with a scowl on her face, "We both know what would have happened if I switched. I would've stayed right where I was fighting that woman, there would've been no hero moment, and Morgan would be dead right now." She said coldly, "My job is to keep you alive no matter what, even if that means someone else has to die for it."

"You're a real piece of work you know that! You're just making excuses because you were too lazy to take over in the first place! I bet you just wanted to see me fight for your own amusement-"

Raishun's words were cut off as Serah launched herself up from the couch. She slammed into him with all her weight, knocking him to the floor and straddling his lap.

"You know what, fine! You want me to forcibly take over, I'll take over just to shut you up!" She pulled her hand back and thrust it towards his chest, her palm was an inch away when the gem in her collar began to spark violently with energy. "Ghhhaa!" She fell backward and curled into a ball, her body spasming as the energy coursed throughout her body.

The anger Raishun felt quickly turned to fear as he saw his partner writhe on the ground. "Serah!" He rushed over to her just as the energy faded, leaving her curled up in a small ball. "Serah I'm sorry! I didn't know it would-"

"I won't go back…" She sobbed. Her messy purple hair obscured her face, but he could still hear the pain in her voice. "I've been alone for so long, I don't want to go back. You're all I have left… so please don't make me take over."

Guilt-ridden, Raishun took Serah's hand in his own and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Serah… I promise I won't put you in a position like that. We're a team remember, till death do us part and all that."

Serah slowly sat upright and pressed her head against his shoulder. "You're the worst you know, making a girl cry." She sniffed and wiped her face on his sleeve, "How are you gonna make this up to little old me?"

"I'll let you take over my body once a week and eat all the junk food you want." He suggested with a nervous smile, "I'm sorry Serah, can you forgive this partner of yours for throwing acting like a big baby."

"Since you were so kind as to let me take over once a week… I can let this one slide." She pulled away and flashed him a similar smile. "So yeah, you're forgiven, partner."

Raishun's eyes slowly fluttered open, with a loud groan of discomfort he forced himself to sit upright. "Man it's really been a week huh. Time flies when you're stuck in a room with your spirit."

" _Hey! We had fun didn't we!"_ Serah appeared at the foot of his bed with her cheeks puffed out in mock anger, " _We ate sweets, watched TV, and trained. What more could a guy want?"_

" _You ate nearly all the sweets as soon as they were done and left me with the ones that you were too afraid to eat because you thought they would poison you. And the TV we watched was just multiple compilations of all the cringe-worthy moments in my life that I hoped would never see the light of day."_ He shuddered and rubbed his shoulders as if he were cold. " _That wasn't fun, it was a nightmare."_

" _Aw come on! You didn't even get sick from those sweets. And who could forget about little Power Ranger Raishun-"_

" _STOP!"_ He moved to hide his face with his hands in embarrassment, but quickly hunched over and began coughing violently into his hands.

" _Woah. Easy there, tiger, I didn't think remembering your greatest childhood moments would kill ya."_ She moved behind him and patted his back, or at least tried to since she couldn't touch him.

"Don't remind me anymore." He sat upright, then stopped when he looked down at his hands. His palms and the inside of his fingers were stained red with blood, small droplets fell from between his palms onto the sheets below. "Uh oh. That can't be good."


End file.
